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STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 



Studies in 
Association Work 



HISTORY, PRINCIPLES, 
BUSINESS MANAGEMENT 



L. L. DOGGETT 
WY D. MURRAY 
J. W. HANSEL 



NEW YORK 

THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF 

YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATIONS 






Prepared under direction of the Joint Committee, represent- 
ing the International Committee of Young Hen's Christian 
Associations and the two Association Training Schools, for use 
in classes in local Associations and in Training Institutes. 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 

JAN 5 1906 

CooyrigM Entry 
CLASS <X XXC. N«. 

copy •. 



Copyright, 1905, 

BY 

The International Committee of 
Young Men's Christian Associations. 



5-I-P2179-1-05 



PREFACE BY THE COMMITTEE 

Believing that the greatest problem of the Young Men's 
Christian Association is that of trained leadership, volun- 
teer and secretarial, representatives of the International 
Committee and o>f the two Training Schools of the North 
American Young Men's Christian Associations have held 
conferences on the subject resulting in several conclusions 
and in cooperative effort. Among the conclusions agreed 
upon are : 

1. That the best training for the secretaryship is a full 
course in one of the Training Schools, supplemented, 
either before or after, by experience as an assistant in a 
thoroughly modern and well administered local Associa- 
tion. 

2. That since assistants and committee members of the 
local Associations supply the larger proportion of men for 
the secretaryship, most of whom enter upon their secre- 
tarial responsibilities without additional training and 
without a systematic study of the Association work be- 
yond their local experience, therefore, some provision 
should be made for broadening, deepening and standard- 
izing the training afforded such assistants and committee 
members. 

3. That it is as important to discover and test good 
men for the secretaryship as to train them ; that the place 
for such discovery and testing is in the local Associations — 
city, railroad, student — and that, therefore, the local secre- 
tary holds the key to the situation. 



vi PREFACE BY THE COMMITTEE 

4. That one of the best means of giving broader train- 
ing to assistants and committeemen is through classes for 
study in the Association work, composed of men of good 
education and demonstrated capacity and leadership, and 
conducted by a secretary who has not only been successful 
in building up an approved type of Association work, but 
also possesses the ability and disposition to teach others 
how to do it. 

5. That the courses of study for use in such classes 
should be prepared or approved by the Training Schools 
as the Associations' experts in training men, and also in 
order that such training may be better correlated with the 
work of the Training Schools and supplemented by In- 
stitutes and Training School courses, when practicable. 

6. That such courses of studies in Association work 
should be prepared and that the cooperation of local secre- 
taries should be sought in forming carefully selected 
classes, in teaching these courses, and in a systematic and 
sustained effort to discover and test men for the secre- 
taryship. 

7. That Associations of modern type and effective 
work should be asked to cooperate in this effort to secure, 
test and train men for the secretaryship by making room 
in assistants' positions for promising men desiring the 
practical training, rather than filling these positions with 
clerks or other men who can have no reasonable expecta- 
tion; of a successful future leadership in the Association 
work. 

A joint committee was entrusted with the carrying out 
of these conclusions and the courses of study are pre- 
sented in several consecutive parts. 

The two Association Training Schools will provide ex- 



PREFACE BY THE COMMITTEE vii 

aminations if desired, and will give credit for the ground 
covered in the courses of study and in the practical ex- 
perience gained in assistants' positions. 

C. K. Ober, 

Field Secretary of the International Committee, 

L. L. Doggett, 

President Springfield Training School, 

J. W. Hansel, 

Late President Chicago Training School, 

Committee. 



PART I 



HISTORY, PRINCIPLES, BUSINESS 
MANAGEMENT 



ASSOCIATION HISTORY 



L. L. DOGGETT 



CONTENTS 



Lesson I. 

Lesson II. 

Lesson III. 

Lesson IV. 

Lesson V. 



Lesson VI. 

Lesson VII. 
Lesson VIII. 
Lesson IX. 

Lesson X. 



PAGE 

McBurney's Early Life 5 

Founding of the New York Association 6 

The Association During the Civil War 7 

Revival of Association Effort after the War . . 8 
The Development of the Fourfold Work and 
Its Adaptation to Different Classes of Young 

Men 9 

Period of Rapid Growth in the New York 

Work 11 

Principles of Association Administration 12 

The International Work 13 

The Evangelical and Evangelistic Contro- 
versies 13 

The Work in Europe and Other Lands 15 



TEN LESSONS IN ASSOCIATION HISTORY 

Based Upon the Life of Robert R. McBurney 



Lesson I. McBurney's Early Life 

Pages 1 to 22 

Note from the table of contents that the plan of study 
geographically is: (1) The Association in the largest 
city of the Continent; (2) the larger work in the United 
States and Canada; (3) the world's work; (4) work in 
non-Christian lands. 

Note also from the table of contents the chronological 
development — the Confederation period, 1851-1861 ; the 
war period, 1861-1865 ; the revival of the Association after 
the war, 1866-1870; the development of the Association 
idea, 1871-1887, and the period of wide extension which 
has continued to the present time. 

In the introduction observe the incarnation of the Asso- 
ciation idea in McBurney, also the characteristics which 
made him a successful secretary and how he expressed 
himself. In Chapter II note the features of McBurney's 
early life which prepared him for the secretaryship. 

Read the historical chapter in the Hand Book, pages 
26-40. 



i. Into what periods is Association history divided? 

2. What are the essential qualities for success in the 
secretaryship f 

3. What experiences helped to prepare McBurney 
for his work? 



6 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

In the assigned reading which follows note the pre- 
liminary efforts to win young men before the Associa- 
tion was established; the founding of the Association in 
London and its development before the New York City- 
organization was established in 1852. 

Note. — It is expected that this outline will be in the hands of the stu- 
dent as well as the teacher and that the teacher will frame additional ques- 
tions as he may desire. The assigned reading is vital to the success of the 
course. It has been reduced to a minimum and the teacher is expected to 
insist upon it. 



Lesson II. The Founding of the New York Association 

Pages 23 to 51 

Read The Twentieth Century City, by Josiah Strong, 
and note the change which modern conditions have made 
in the environment of young men. 

1. The rise of the modern city was the occasion for 
the founding of the Young Men's Christian Association. 

2. New York City is typical of the modern city 
movement. 

3. The religious forces and the religious problems of 
New York City. 

4. The aim of the founders of the New York As- 
sociation. 

5. The steps in the founding of the organization — 
note the relationship to both the London and Boston or- 
ganizations. 

6. The constitution. The object, the conditions of 
membership, the methods of work, relation to the Church, 
the method of organization, the unexecutive character of 
the duties of the employed officer. 

7. The conception of the Association in the mind of 
its founders, on page 35. 



ASSOCIATION HISTORY 7 

8. Relation of the New York Association to the work 
at large and the founding of the Confederation. 

9. The slavery issue, its agitation, its effect on the 
membership. 

10. The great revival of 1857. The place of the New 
York Association in starting and maintaining the noon 
meetings, and in the later development of the revival. 
The effect of the revival upon the Association cause, both 
in New York and in general. 

11. The establishment of the United States Christian 
Commission. 

12. The decline of the Association from the financial 
depression and the outbreak of the war. 

Read Supplement to Fifty Years of Federation, 
R. C. Morse. 



J. What had the New York Association accomplished 
during the first ten years of its history? 

2. From what limitations did it stiff erf 

J. Compare the character of its work with that of a 
modern Association. 



Lesson III. The Association During the Civil War — 1862- 1865 

Pages 52 to 70 

1. The plans for the continuance of the New York 
work. The appearance of Cephas Brainerd as one of the 
leaders. The place of the employed officer. The begin- 
ning of the idea of an executive secretary. 

2. The condition of the New York society when Mc- 
Burney became its secretary, and his first duties. 

3. McBurney's ideas of the secretaryship as a life 



8 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

work and the influence upon him of the opportunity it 
gave for direct religious effort. 

4. The influence of his associates upon McBurney' s 
development as an executive. The place which volunteer 
workers have in the Young Men's Christian Association. 

5. The work for the young men of New York City 
during the war. 

6. The return of the dissatisfied element which had 
withdrawn during the anti-slavery agitation. The effect 
of the return of these men upon the fortunes of the New 
York Association. The place which William E. 
Dodge, Jr., came to occupy in Association history. 

7. The resignation of McBurney and his return. 



i. What effect did the Civil War have on the 
American Association? 

<?. What great work was undertaken for the soldiers? 
j. What was the scope and character of this work? 

4. How did McBurney 's experience during the war 
period prepare him for his later career? 

5. How did the work of the New York Association 
differ from much of that in the rest of the country? 

Lesson IV. The Revival of Association Effort After the War 

Pages 71 to 89 

1. McBurney and William E. Dodge, Jr. The place 
which the New York Association came to occupy in the 
general movement. 

2. The first suggestion of a gymnasium. 

3. The beginning of the building movement. The 
study of the field and the young men of the city. The 
first efforts to suppress obscene literature. 



ASSOCIATION HISTORY 9 

4. The canvass for funds and the erection of the 
building at Twenty-third Street and Fourth Avenue. 

5. The opening of the new building. 

6. The important influence of the Twenty-third 
Street building. Comparison with other buildings then in 
existence. The unifying features of the building and its 
contribution to Association architecture. 

7. The effect of this building upon the leadership of 
New York in the Association cause. 



i. What type of Association work was exemplified 
in the Twenty-third Street building ? 

2. What features of the Twenty-third Street build- 
ing have become characteristic of Association archi- 
tecture? 

j. What features are usually found in Association 
buildings to-day which did not appear in the Twenty- 
third Street building? 

Lesson V. The Development of the Fourfold Work and Its 
Adaptation to Different Classes of Young Men 

Pages 90 to 123 

1. The form of government of the New York Asso- 
ciation at this time. 

2. The place which the secretary came to occupy in 
the new building. Before the building movement the As- 
sociation was almost entirely a volunteer organization. 
Since its inception the employed officers have come more 
and more into the position of leadership. 

3. The development of the social work — the Twenty- 
third Street building as a Christian club and resort for 



10 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

young men. The effectiveness of such companionship 
in leading young men to Christ. 

4. The inception of the gymnasium. Compare the 
conception of physical work then and now. Note the 
emphasis at first upon this feature simply as an attraction 
to interest young men and the effect this idea had on the 
character of the physical work. 

5. The growth of the intellectual features — the cen- 
tral position of the library at this time. 

6. The religious work. Its fervor and evangelistic 
character. At a time when the gospel meeting was the 
universal type of religious work in the Associations note 
the considerable amount of Bible study at the Twenty- 
third Street building. Personal work as a marked feature. 
The organization of the religious work. This extensive 
religious effort was exclusively for young men. 

7. The effort for the suppression of vice. Compare 
the plan of legal suppression with that followed by the 
Associations to-day. The place of the physical depart- 
ment to-day in the campaign for purity among men and 
boys. 

8. The Moody meetings. The relation of this effort 
to the New York Association. 

9. The adaptation of the Association to different 
classes of young men. Note that up to this time the As- 
sociation had chiefly reached commercial young men. 
When an effective method had been developed for this 
purpose it is remarkable how rapidly it was adapted to 
other classes. 

10. Branches of the New York Association. The be- 
ginnings of the railroad work. The relation of the branch 
to the central board. 



ASSOCIATION HISTORY 11 

1. How did the New York Association contribute to 
the fourfold work for young men? 

2. What has led to the preeminence of the employed 
force in the leadership of the Association? 

j. What effect did the development of a systematic 
specialized work for young men have upon the Associa- 
tion cause? 

Lesson VI. Period of Rapid Growth in the New York Work 
Pages 124 to 138 

1. The reorganization on the metropolitan plan. It 
is analogous to the public school organization in many 
large cities. 

2. The extension of the branch system throughout 
the city. The intercollegiate student department. 

3. The development of economic phases of work for 
young men. 

4. The West Side building. The advancement which 
this building shows over the Twenty-third Street struc- 
ture. Note the dormitory and restaurant features. The 
much smaller auditorium. 

5. The provision for work among boys. This was 
practically a separate building with separate employed 
officers and yet so connected with the senior work as to be 
in real affiliation. 

6. Contrast between the work in 1898 and at the be- 
ginning of McBurney's career as general secretary. 

7. The growth of the employed force in New York 
City. The organization of the committees. 



i. What is the metropolitan plan of organization? 
2. How large a section of the Association movement 



12 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

in North America is under the metropolitan form of ad- 
ministration? 

j. What economic features are now used by the 
Associations in their work for young men and of what 
value are they? 

4. What has led to the introduction of work for boys? 

Lesson VII. Principles of Association Administration 

Pages 139 to 156 

1. A specialized, organized effort for the development 
of Christian manhood. This is in contrast with a move- 
ment for the general evangelization of all classes. 

2. The place of social work. 

3. The proper financial policy for an Association. 

4. The centralization of administration for the local 
Association. 

5. The throwing of responsibility upon the member- 
ship for the actual work among young men. 

6. McBurney's list of nine principles. 

7. Doctrinal questions in the Association. Inspira- 
tion and critical Bible study. 

8. McBurney's idea regarding the Association paper, 
should it be technical in character or a paper of general 
interest to young men ? 



1. On what principle should our social work be car- 
ried out? 

2. What ought to be the attitude of the Association 
toward doctrinal questions? 

3. Why should the religious work have the first place? 



ASSOCIATION HISTORY 13 

Lesson VIII. The International Work 

Pages 157 to 173 

We turn now to consider the larger phases of Associa- 
tion life. 

1. Three leaders in the International work — Cephas 
Brainerd, R. R. McBurney and R. C. Morse. 

2. The Philadelphia convention in 1865. Note the 
condition of the Associations at large at the end of the 
Civil War. Unfortunate features of the Philadelphia 
convention. The difficulty of carrying on the Interna- 
tional work with a rotary committee. 

3. The Albany convention the turning point in the 
International work. The results of this convention. 
H. Thane Miller. 

4. The Montreal convention, 1867. The union of the 
northern and southern Associations. 

If possible to secure it the student should read the re- 
port of the Albany convention, 1866. 



J. What is the International Committee? 

2. What place did the three conventions referred to 
have in the development of the American work? 

3. What was the effect of the location of the Interna- 
tional Committee in New York? 

Lesson IX. The Evangelical and Evangelistic Controversies 
Pages 174 to 210 

1. The Paris basis. The student should commit this 
to memory and analyze the doctrines it contains. 

2. The Boston idea of limiting active membership to 
members of evangelical churches. The indefinite position 
of the first American convention, 1857. 



14 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

3. Variety of tests used in different Associations. The 
plan of applying the test only to the board of directors. 
McBurney's action at the first New York State conven- 
tion. Mr. Brainerd's article in the Association Quarterly. 

4. Situation at the time of the Detroit convention, 
1868. Action of this convention. Note the important 
step in calling Robert Weidensall. 

5. The Portland convention, 1869. The precipitation 
of the evangelical discussion grew out of the question as 
to what constitutes an evangelical church. The Portland 
test. Compare this test with the Paris basis and the 
Apostles' Creed. Note the action of the convention limit- 
ing representation to evangelical organizations. 

6. The call of Richard C. Morse. His service as 
editor. His appointment as general secretary of the In- 
ternational Committee. 

7. The controversy over the true work of the Asso- 
ciation. Contrast between McBurney's position and that 
taken by Mr. Moody. Mr. Moody's deep interest in Asso- 
ciation work. 

8. The evangelistic campaigns carried on by state 
committees. McBurney's paper at the New York State 
convention, 1877. Mr. Moody, 1879, expresses his ap- 
proval of the secular work of the Association. 

9. The rise of work for different classes of young 
men. The Student Movement. 

10. The growth of the International work. The rela- 
tion between the International and State committees. 



i. What was the evangelical controversy? 
2. What are the points of agreement and contrast 
between the Paris basis and the Portland test? 



ASSOCIATION HISTORY 15 

j. What are the reasons for the evangelical test? 
4. Why should not the Associations engage in gen- 
eral evangelistic zuork for all classes ? 

Lesson X. The Work in Europe and Other Lands 

Pages 211 to 248 

1. The World's conference at Amsterdam-, 1872. 
The relative importance of the American work. The 
difficulties in Europe on account of national hostilities 
and rivalry. Form of organization in England — William 
E. Shipton and Sir George Williams. 

2. Mr. Morse's service at the convention of 1875. 

3. The Geneva convention, 1878. The establishment 
of headquarters for the World's Committee and the em- 
ployment of a general secretary, M. Charles Fermaud. 
Later World's conventions. 

4. Work in non-Christian lands before 1879. The 
beginning of the student work in foreign lands. The 
Northfield conference of 1886. The call from India. 
Mr. Swift goes to Japan. 

5. Principles upon which the foreign work is carried 
on. 

6. McBurney's contribution to the secretaryship. 
Contrast between his idea of the office and Mr. Shipton's. 
His relation to younger secretaries. 

7. Organization oif the Secretarial Alliance. Influ- 
ence of this organization. 

8. McBurney's paper on "Secretarialism." 

9. The founding of the Training School at Spring- 
field in 1885. 

Read Strategic Points in the World's Conquest, J. R. 
Matt. 



16 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

i. What service have the leaders of the American 
work rendered to the World's conventions? 

2. What is the function of the World's Committee? 

j. How did the work for young men in non-Chris- 
tian lands begin? 

4. What are the principles on which it is adminis- 
tered? 

5. What is secretarialism? 

Read Fifty Years of Federation, by Richard C. Morse, 
also article on "Young Men's Christian Association," 
Encyclopaedia Americana, by L. L. Doggett. 

Each student should prepare an essay on an historical 
subject assigned by the teacher. 



ASSOCIATION PRINCIPLES 



William D. Murray 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Lesson I. Principles — Our Basis 19 

Lesson II. Principles — Our Aim 25 

Lesson III. Methods 32 

Lesson IV. Organization — Boards 39 

Lesson V. Organization — Boards (continued) 43 

Lesson VI. Organization — Boards (continued) 46 

Lesson VII. Organization — Committees 48 

Lesson VIII. Membership 53 

Lesson IX. The General Secretary — Characteristics 57 

Lesson X. The General Secretary — Personal Life 62 

Bibliography 68 



TEN LESSONS IN ASSOCIATION PRINCIPLES 



Lesson I. Principles 

THE PARIS BASIS AND EVANGELICAL TEST 

In taking up the study of the principles and methods 
of the work of the Young Men's Christian Association it 
is necessary to note the distinction between principles and 
methods; the former are permanent and fundamental ; the 
latter vary with the time and place. It is exceedingly 
important therefore to understand the basal principles 
upon which, as upon a rock foundation, the Association 
stands. 

1. Our Basis 

The aim of the first Young Men's Christian Associa- 
tion, organized in London in 1844, was to improve the 
spiritual condition of certain young men, a purpose which 
they sought to accomplish by meetings for prayer and 
Bible study. So it is clear that in the very beginning this 
movement sought to reach the spiritual nature of young 
men. This purpose has been kept preeminent in the work 
and growth of the British organization. It was equally 
the initial purpose of the North American Associations 
and when, owing to suggestions from London, the first 
Association in the United States was formed in Boston in 
1851, what has since been known as the evangelical test 
of membership was adopted, providing that active, voting 
members must be members of evangelical churches. 
This Boston precedent was followed by the great majority 
of the early North American Associations. In the subse- 



20 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

quent growth of the Association movement this central 
spiritual purpose has been affirmed and reaffirmed by two 
great declarations which have been incorporated into the 
very fabric of the Young Men's Christian Association: 
(1) The Paris Basis (1855 and 1905); (2) The Evan- 
gelical Test (1851). Upon the principles which the 
Associations embodied in them rest the Young Men's 
Christian Associations of to-day. 

(1) THE PARIS BASIS 

It reads as follows: "The Young Men's Christian 
Associations seek to unite those young men who, regard- 
ing Jesus Christ as their God and Saviour, according to 
the Holy Scriptures, desire to be His disciples, in their 
doctrine and in their life, and to associate their efforts for 
the extension of His kingdom among young men." 

It has been called "The Apostles' Creed" of the Young 
Men's Christian Association. 

In the convention held at Paris in 1855 Rev. Abel 
Stevens, an American delegate from New York, in pro- 
posing an alliance of the Young Men's Christian Asso- 
ciations of the world, said that it was in the power of that 
conference to place on a permanent basis the work of the 
Associations, and he therefore offered a resolution which 
followed the American test of 1851 and provided "that the 
Associations should be managed by members of evan- 
gelical churches." After some discussion M. Frederick 
Monnier, of Strasburg, a layman, offered the resolution 
quoted above, the Paris Basis. This was ratified by the 
American Associations at the Montreal convention, in 
1856. 

As must always be the case with a growing organiza- 
tion, different men have held, from time to time, different 



ASSOCIATION PRINCIPLES 21 

views as to the usefulness of the Paris Basis. In the 
present transition period in the religious world it is only 
natural that men should differ on such a subject as this. 
But the Basis has survived all attacks, and now after 
fifty years of trial, at the beginning of this new century, it 
has been reaffirmed. 

At the Jubilee World's Conference, held at Paris in 
1905, Prince Bernadotte, of Sweden, presented the jubilee 
declaration in the three languages of the conference, 
French, German and English. 

"At this time, when the Alliance of the Young Men's 
Christian Association is commemorating in Paris, the 
place of its origin, the fifty years of its foundation : — 

"We, the authorized representatives of all Young Men's 
Christian Associations of the world, wish first to express 
our gratitude to Almighty God, who, during these fifty 
years, has granted so much blessing on the work He has 
entrusted to us. 

"We further wish to witness our deep thankfulness to 
the men who founded the Alliance, and gratefully recall 
the noble examples of faith and life which they have 
given us. 

"We desire formally to declare the supreme importance 
of the fundamental principles which have formed a bond 
of union between the Associations from the beginning." 

Consequently the conference solemnly reaffirms the 
Basis adopted in Paris in 1855, as follows : — 

ALLIANCE OF YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATIONS 

The delegates of various Young Men's Christian Asso- 
ciations of Europe and America, assembled in conference 
at Paris the 2 2d of August, 1855, feeling that they are 
one in principle and in operation, recommend to their 



22 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

respective societies to recognise with them the unity 
existing among their Associations, and while preserving 
a complete independence as to their particular organiza- 
tion and modes of action, to form a Confederation on the 
following fundamental principle, such principle to be re- 
garded as the basis of admission of other societies in 
future: — 

The Young Men's Christian Associations seek to 
unite those young men who, regarding jesus christ 
as their God and Saviour, according to the Holy 
Scriptures, desire to be His disciples, in their doc- 
trine AND IN THEIR LIFE, AND TO ASSOCIATE THEIR EF- 
FORTS FOR THE EXTENSION OF HlS KINGDOM AMONG 
YOUNG MEN. 

The conference also declares that this Basis embodies, 
with other fundamental principles, the following: — 

1. Personal and vital Christianity on the part of the 
members. 

2. The spirit of evangelical alliance, according to 
John xvii. 21.* 

3. The activity and responsibility of the members in 
effort for the extension of the kingdom of God among 
young men. 

After fifty years of discussion it was found necessary to 
change not a single word in the original resolution. 

(2) THE EVANGELICAL TEST 

This document, known also as the Portland Resolution, 
reads as follows : " As these organizations bear the name 



*This term, "the spirit of evangelical alliance," expresses in other lan- 
guages the meaning of the term "interdenominational," as used in North 
America, more accurately than any direct translation of that term from the 
English. 



ASSOCIATION PRINCIPLES 23 

of Christian and profess to be engaged directly in the 
Saviour's service, so it is clearly their duty to maintain 
the control and management of all their affairs in the 
hands of those who profess to love and publicly avow 
their faith in Jesus, the Redeemer, as divine ; and who tes- 
tify their faith by becoming and remaining members of 
churches held to be evangelical; and that such persons 
and none others should be allowed to vote or hold office." 

It takes its name from the fact that it was adopted at 
the convention held at Portland, Me., in 1869. Questions 
were asked as to the meaning of the expression "evan- 
gelical churches," and the convention adopted as a part of 
the test the following report of a special committee : "We 
hold those churches to be evangelical which, maintaining 
the Holy Scriptures to be the only infallible rule of faith 
and practice, do believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (the 
only begotten Son of the Father, King of kings and Lord 
of lords, in whom dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead 
bodily, and who was made sin for us, though knowing no 
sin, bearing our sins in His own body on the tree) as the 
only name under heaven, given among men, whereby we 
must be saved from everlasting punishment." 

By the adoption of the Evangelical Test the control of 
the Association, a human organization, was placed in the 
hands of members of the church, a divine institution. 
This gave to the Association a stability it had never before 
had, because it acknowledged the headship of the church, 
God's recognized representative on earth; it also im- 
planted in the hearts of the men whose support was neces- 
sary to success — ministers and laymen — a confidence 
which nothing else could create. From the time of the 
adoption of this as a brotherhood test the growth of the 
Association was accelerated. 



24 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

As with the Paris Basis, so with the Evangelical Test, 
from time to time questions have arisen regarding its 
utility and adequacy. Some Associations have abandoned 
it, giving the voting power to all members of the Asso- 
ciation whether church members or not. In some in- 
stances at least this has been a matter of expediency, not 
of principle. A particular Association has been desirous 
of securing the support of some individual or individuals 
in its community who could not qualify for active mem- 
bership. But, as a rule, the Associations which have de- 
parted from the Evangelical Test for any such reason have 
not prospered, and almost all that now survive do so be- 
cause they realized that they were adrift and came back to 
the safe anchorage of this test. 

Those whose knowledge of Association history is 
widest recommend that the article of the Association's 
constitution embodying the Evangelical Test be not sus- 
ceptive of amendment without the unanimous consent of 
the membership. 

We can no more afford to depart from the Evangelical 
Test than from the Paris Basis. On our loyalty to Jesus 
Christ and to the church which represents Him on earth 
our very life depends. John R. Mott, speaking at the 
Decennial Conference of the World's Christian Student 
Federation, at Zeist in 1905, said: "It is into His king- 
dom that students are streaming from the East and from 
the West, from the North and from the South. He is 
the great magnet; if He continually be lifted up by the 
different movements, all classes of students will be in- 
evitably drawn unto Him. Christ is our message, for He 
only can satisfy the consciences, the hearts, the minds of 
men. Only in Him and His cross let our glory be. To 
Him must we go to learn those principles and methods 



ASSOCIATION PRINCIPLES 25 

which, no matter what our national and racial conditions, 
will be found to have universal adaptation. To carry out 
His program is the only sufficient reason for the existence 
of the Federation and the only adequate goal of our effort. 
From Him we derive our life and power, and we do well 
to heed the lesson of history that every Christian organ- 
ization which has ceased to preserve a vital relation to 
Him has soon become formal and lifeless." 



i. Quote the Paris Basis. 

2. What did the Evangelical Test add to the Paris 
Basis? 

j. What is meant by "evangelical churches"? 

4. What does the fact that the Paris Basis was re- 
affirmed in 1905 indicate as to its place in the Association 
economy? 

5. Why should the evangelical test be adhered to? 

Readings: — Fifty Years of Federation, pp. 33, xxii., 46. 
Life of McBurney, pp. 174-185. A History of the Young 
Men's Christian Association, p. 166, et seq. 



Lesson II. Principles (continued) 

MEANING OF THE PARIS BASIS 

2. Our Aim 

Assuming that the documents already described are 
the foundation upon which the Association stands, and 
taking the Paris Basis as an outline for further study of 
principles, it will be seen that we are striving to do two 
mutually helpful things: (1) To train Christian young 



26 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

men in Christian service; (2) to save non-Christian young 
men. 

(1) To train Christian young men. "The Young 
Men's Christian Associations seek to unite those 
young men, who, regarding jesus christ as their 
Saviour," etc. This leaves no doubt of the motive of the 
Young Men's Christian Associations — to take the scat- 
tered forces of Christian young men in a community and 
bind them together in a united effort, thereby greatly 
multiplying their power. 

There is implied here a voluntary Association of young 
men, as well as an Association which knows no denomina- 
tion, but gladly includes all. 

It is, too, an Association of young men, though not so 
much emphasis can be laid upon this element in our con- 
stitution as formerly, for to-day the Association is under- 
taking the solution of such vast problems that the most 
mature judgment is needed. Yet it would be well for our 
Associations to be seeking constantly to enlist men in this 
work early in their careers. 

"Desire to be His disciples." Disciple means learner 
or scholar. It is significant that this word should have 
been used in speaking of Christian young men. It means 
that those who are to be trained for service are those who, 
being Christians, desire to go further, and to study under 
the greatest Teacher, Jesus Christ Himself. 

And the words which follow are equally significant: 
"Desire to be His disciples (scholars) in their doctrine 
and in their life." Here we have the two sides of a 
man : what he knows — his doctrine ; what he is — his life. 

In doctrine. This does not mean in any sense that this 
Association is to teach theology. Nothing is clearer than 
that it cannot take sides on controverted questions in the 



ASSOCIATION PRINCIPLES 27 

realm of theology. A friendly critic said a short time ago, 
"In our opinion nothing could be more disastrous than 
for the Association to take up any distinct system of ideas 
— higher critical or anti-critical — or that a secretary in his 
work should be an avowed advocate or condemner in 
matters that do not appertain to the principles of morality 
and the fundamental truths of the gospel of Christ." It 
does mean that the active member of the Association 
should "know whom he has believed," and should seek 
to know better the gospel of Christ. 

In life. After all it is not so much what a man knows, 
as what he is — his character — that counts. Phillips 
Brooks once said, "It is not by the truth the clergy 
teach, it is by the lives the Christian people live, that the 
church must be the witness of the Father." Life is 
greater than knowledge. Moreover, we are learning the 
danger of teaching truth that is not worked out in life; 
in more senses than one "a little learning is a dangerous 
thing." Dr. King, of Oberlin, says: "It is not enough 
passively to receive an idea; if it is really to be yours, 
you must express it in some way. You must put it into 
act. Your idea or ideal is not fully yours until you have 
expressed it. The resulting law for character is clear and 
unmistakable: That which is not expressed dies." We 
are justified, therefore, in insisting that the young men 
who are to work through the Association should not only 
know, but be. 

In thus seeking to unite Christian young men who de- 
sire to learn of Christ and live for Christ we are doing 
just what He Himself did, for early in His ministry "He 
appointed twelve that they might be with him [to learn 
of Him], and that he might send them forth [to live for 
Him]" (Mark iii. 14). This was the first Young Men's 



28 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

Christian Association, and its basis was not different from 
the one laid down in Paris in 1855. Near the end of His 
life Jesus seems to have had the same idea in mind when 
He said that any man who had found in Him the door to 
life, should thereafter "go in" (to be with Christ and learn 
of Him) "and go out" (in fellowship and sympathy with 
men) (Johnx. 9). 

This is the first part of our double purpose: to train 
Christian young men for service. 

(2) To save non-Christian young men. "And to 

ASSOCIATE THEIR EFFORTS FOR THE EXTENSION OF HlS 

kingdom." This statement in the Basis makes plain a 
fact which ought not to need any special emphasis, 
namely, that the primary purpose of the Christian young 
men who are brought together in the Association is not 
the securing of some benefit to themselves, be it educa- 
tional, physical, or what not. We are "saved to serve." 
One of the characteristics which distinguish the Associa- 
tion from the mere social club lies just here: men join 
the latter for what they can get, the former for what they 
can give. At the same time it is clear that the educational 
classes, the gymnasium, and the other advantages offered 
by the Association are not merely means by which men 
are dragged into Bible classes and evangelical meetings. 
They are good things in themselves, and men are justified 
in joining the Association so that they may enjoy them 
and get benefit from them. But in these studies we are 
seeking for principles, and the principle enunciated here 
is that the Association exists primarily, and is supported 
primarily, because it deals with the spiritual nature of 
young men, and furnishes opportunities for giving rather 
than getting. 

It is also clear from this statement that this is to be an 



ASSOCIATION PRINCIPLES 29 

associated effort. The load which is too heavy for any 
Christian young man alone, he and those associated with 
him can lift. 

Here, too, we have the very heart of the Association 
idea; the extension of His kingdom. As has been said 
above, not the training of athletes, not the care of the 
body, good as these may be; not the increase of a man's 
efficiency by education, laudable as such a purpose is ; but 
the problem which we have set ourselves to solve is the 
one which faced our Lord when He was here upon the 
earth. The question ever before Him was, "How can I 
establish my kingdom on this earth?" From the day 
when Satan promised to give the kingdoms of the earth 
to Him if He would worship him, until He cried out, 
"It is finished," this was what He was trying to do. It 
is the problem of the Young Men's Christian Associa- 
tion to-day : the establishment of Christ's kingdom among 
young men. In other words, our work is a religious work ; 
we seek the spiritual welfare of young men. Men recog- 
nize this, so well has the Association adhered to this 
fundamental principle. Some time ago a rich man, with 
little or no interest in religion, was asked to contribute to 
the endowment fund of the educational department of 
the International Committee. He declined on the ground 
that in giving to that department he would be giving to a 
religious work, for he said if the whole work of the 
Association were not religious then it was false to its 
principles. He was right. All our work, social, educa- 
tional, physical, is in order that we may extend His king- 
dom among young men. 

This is the second part of our double purpose : to save 
non-Christian young men. 

Among young men. Enough has been said, perhaps, 



30 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

concerning our work as a work for young men; a word 
ought to be added about it as a work for men. Although 
started as a work for men, it took the Association a long 
time to realize that its work was for men only. As early 
as 1858 the question was asked in convention, "What is' 
our field and work?" The answer given was, "The forma- 
tion and development of Christian character in young 
men." But as Mr. McBurney, speaking of that time, has 
said, "The Association men themselves, with few excep- 
tions, did not have a clear understanding of the work of the 
Young Men's Christian Associations." The Associations 
seem to have been restive under the limitation to one 
sex. In the convention of 1859 this resolution was passed, 
"That while we should work especially on behalf of young 
men, for the sake of our Associations as well as for the 
sake of our Master's cause, we should be ready to enter 
upon any work which He shall open before us." And 
Mr. R. C. Morse, in commenting on this resolution, says, 
"By 'any work' the Association men of that day under- 
stood mission, Sunday-school and general evangelistic 
work and various forms of philanthropic endeavor — all 
of which were then a part of the activities of the Asso- 
ciations." 

In the convention of 1866, under the leadership of 
Cephas Brainerd and Robert R. McBurney, work for 
men exclusively was vigorously advocated, and from that 
time the work of the Association has been more clearly 
defined. During recent years there has been little or no 
desire to depart from it. The latest development along 
this line has been the recognition by the Association of 
the fact that the term "young men" includes boys, so 
that instead of taking up work for boys as an outside 
matter, the Association recognizes them as a constituent 



ASSOCIATION PRINCIPLES 31 

part of the organization and gives them a place in its 
plans. 

At home and abroad. The Church of Christ was slow- 
to take upon itself the responsibility for the men of other 
lands. So, too, the Association until 1889, with its grow- 
ing work at home, did not feel any obligation towards the 
young men of foreign mission lands. But in that year, 
in response to the calls of missionaries on the field, the 
North American Associations showed that they realized 
their duty to all young men, by sending general secre- 
taries to Madras, India, and Tokyo, Japan; and now the 
extension of Christ's kingdom among young men abroad 
is recognized as being as much a part of our work as the 
extension of that kingdom among young men at home. 

And finally, the very success of the Young Men's 
Christian Associations has led other organizations to seek 
to associate themselves with it. But our motto should be, 
"no entangling alliances." We have a broad and needy 
field, the work is hard enough to stimulate any man, and 
we have no excuse for going outside. Let us continue to 
unite Christian young men, who, having acknowledged 
Jesus Christ as Saviour, now wish to learn of Him and 
live for Him, as they seek to extend His kingdom until 
the young men of this land and of all lands have acknowl- 
edged Him as Lord and Master. 



j. What tzvo things is the Association striving to do? 
2. What is the controlling motive of the Association? 
j. Is it true that not so much emphasis can now be 
laid upon the zvord "young" in our name? Why? 

4. What does the expression, "who desire to be His 
disciples in their doctrine" mean? 

5. What the expression, "in their lives"? 



32 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

6. How do the two differ? 

7. What should be the attitude of the Association 
towards controverted theological questions? 

8. Why should Christian young men join the Asso- 
ciation? 

9. Why should zve seek to establish Christ's kingdom 
abroad as well as at home? 

10. Why should our work be religious? 

11. Why should Association work include the boys? 

12. What should be our attitude tozvards kindred or- 
ganisations? 

Readings: — The Association and the Churches. 
Twentieth Century City Association. Association for 
the Times. Why for Young Men Exclusively. Jubilee 
of Work for Young Men in North America, p. 79. 

Lesson III. Methods 

ADAPTING THE ASSOCIATION TO THE FIELD 

It has already been said that principles are permanent, 
methods change. In the early days of the Association 
movement the method of attaining its purpose was by 
prayer meetings and Bible study only; now the gym- 
nasium, the educational class, camps and outings, as well 
as prayer meetings and Bible study, enter into our 
method. 

1. What the Association is 

In seeking to find the proper methods for carrying on 
our work it is necessary in the first place to determine 
what the Association is. 

(1) It is not a church. A few years ago, when they 
were thinking of organizing an Association in a certain 



ASSOCIATION PRINCIPLES 33 

city, one pastor said to another, "What do you think of 
the new church they are talking about establishing down 
on Main Street?" Such a feeling was prevalent at one 
time and was clearly erroneous. We do not meet it very 
often now, but we ought to have it in mind. 

A good many things are involved in the fact that the 
Association is not a church : it means that although active 
in the Association our first allegiance is to the Church 
of Jesus Christ our first duty to the denomination of our 
choice ; it means also that the Association must follow, not 
lead, in matters within the peculiar province of the 
church. 

(2) It is not a social club. Although it might hon- 
estly be stated that in many ways and to many men the 
Association is a social club, yet it is true that in the or- 
dinary sense of these words it is not. There will always 
be this great distinction between the Association and the 
ordinary social club : a man joins the latter for what he 
gets, but the other, the ideal Association, for what he can 
give. There is a tendency, however, to make the Asso- 
ciation more like a club ; to restrict all the privileges to 
members exclusively, as in clubs. 

(3) What the Association is. This has been defined 
in our study of principles. Having this definition in mind 
let us strive to adopt methods which will make it in 
reality what we have made it in theory, an everyday work 
for young men by young men. 

2. Know what the Field of the Young Men's 
Christian Association is. 

(1) What its field is not. There is a great deal of 
good work waiting to be done, but we must realize that 
the Association is not called upon to do it all. All sorts 



34 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

of work for men, relief work and rescue mission work, is 
necessary, but that does not make it our work; the field 
of the Association is elsewhere. Then there is the Sun- 
day-school work and the work of general foreign mis- 
sions which belong so plainly to the church: these fields 
are not for us. But every now and then an Association 
loads itself up with some work of this kind and then won- 
ders why the community does not support it. It is 
probably duplicating the work of some other equally 
needed organization. 

The field of the Association has been well defined in 
the form of constitution proposed for the twentieth cen- 
tury Association: "The object of this Association is to 
develop the Christian character and usefulness of its mem- 
bers, and to improve the spiritual, mental, social, and 
physical conditions of young men." 

This does not mean that the Association must hold 
aloof from all other organizations: on the other hand 
there are always some in every community with which it 
can cooperate. Particularly is this true of any efforts the 
churches may make towards helping the young men of the 
community. 

(2) Its field is among men and boys. It includes all 
classes of men : students, clerks, laborers, railroad men, 
schoolboys, and working boys. It includes the whole 
man : spirit, mind and body. It means that the Associa- 
tion has the privilege of creating an atmosphere in which 
a man will develop along all lines of his being, so that 
the best that is in him, his spiritual nature, shall naturally 
dominate the whole man. 

(3) It is for the individual man. It is significant of 
our movement that a recent circular of the publication 
department of the International Committee is headed, 



ASSOCIATION PRINCIPLES 35 

"Personal Work Literature," and then follow eleven titles 
of books to help men deal with individual men. We used 
to think that it was enough to get a crowd of men to- 
gether and tell the crowd what Christ had done for them. 
Now each of us is discovering that as an Association man, 
having found out what Christ has done for me, I should 
tell the man alongside of me what He will do for him. 

3. Study Your Particular Field 

One of the speakers at the Niagara Falls Conference 
said, "Small cities do not need all the stunts of the large 
cities." Forgetting this causes a good deal of trouble. A 
story is told of a man who secured certain territory in 
which to sell a new kind of buoy for marking rocks, etc. 
Learning his story he proceeded to a lake in the territory 
assigned to him and explained to the proprietor the 
various good points of his buoys, their durability, cheap- 
ness, etc. He was greatly taken back upon being told 
that there were no rocks in the lake. 

I talked with a secretary once who told me that when 
he went to a certain city the Association had no educa- 
tional classes, the reason given being that the city night 
schools were so good that for the Association to under- 
take such work would be merely duplicating existing 
agencies. But those who said this had jumped at con- 
clusions ; they had not studied the field of that Associa- 
tion. An investigation of the large manufactories re- 
vealed the fact that scarcely any of their thousands of 
men attended the night schools or felt that it would do 
them any good to attend. Educational classes were 
started with splendid results. 



36 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

Two or three suggestions along this line will be given. 
Seek to know : — 

(1) What kind of a town it is. Is it large or small? 
This means a good deal. A director, for instance, could 
probably do more financial work in a small town than in 
a large one. Men know each other better in small places. 

Is it a suburban town? The problem of the suburban 
town is quite different from other places. Overshadowed 
by a great city, with the attractions of which it cannot 
compete, the Association in the suburban town might pro- 
vide the things which will reach and hold its young men. 

And so the questions could be asked : Is it a manufac- 
turing city? Is it in a farming community? If we are 
to meet the needs of our own town or city we must know 
what kind of a town or city we are in. 

(2) What kind of people live there. I remember once 
going into a large church in a certain city, and, being in- 
terested in Sunday-schools, I stayed after the morning ser- 
vice to see the school. It was painfully small compared 
with the large church attendance, and when I asked if I 
might see the primary department I was taken into a little 
upstairs room where fourteen little children sat on a sin- 
gle long bench. I was so surprised that I turned to my 
conductor and asked where the children were. His an- 
swer made all plain, for he told me that their church was 
in the midst of a boarding house neighborhood, and that 
families with children did not board if they could help it. 
The handful of children in the Sunday-school was prac- 
tically all the children of the families connected with the 
church. It would have been useless under such circum- 
stances to make preparations for a big primary depart- 
ment. So of the Association ; we must know the kind of 
people who inhabit that particular town. Are they board- 



ASSOCIATION PRINCIPLES 37 

ers or housekeepers? Are they a church going com- 
munity? What occupies the leisure time of the young 
men — 'for we cannot afford to make the mistake which a 
certain doctor is said to have made, who, in ignorance of 
the man's occupation, told a letter carrier that he needed 
to walk more. 

It is helpful, too, to know the kind of government which 
exists in the city : is it good or bad ? Are the city officials 
in control for what they can make out of it? How do 
the powers that be treat the saloon question? All these 
things have a vital bearing on the methods to be em- 
ployed in that particular town. 

4. Adopt a Policy for Your Town 

In view of the kind of city you are in, and the kind of 
people who live in it, make your policy fit the facts. 
Here many mistakes are made. A secretary hears of 
some method which works in a city of a million, and he 
wonders why it fails in his city of ten thousand; or it 
works in that little town far from a big city, and he won- 
ders why it does not work in his suburban Association. 
One of the secretaries in China in his report to the home 
committee expressed this thought of making the policy 
fit the people, by saying, "Our business is to attract these 
men (literati) to us, to win their friendship, confidence 
and esteem, and this can only be done in the first instance 
on the ground of common interest." This is just what the 
Association needs to do : to find the point of contact, and 
adopt methods suited to its community. 

5. What Shall be Our Policy? 

In the first place, the Association must, in order to 
fulfil its greatest function, give the men of the city an 



38 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

opportunity to study the Bible and must conduct some 
kind of meeting at which they may hear the gospel. In 
the second place, if it is going to be what it claims to be, 
an everyday work for young men, it must give the young 
man a chance to develop his body and his mind. But it 
must do more than all this. One of our most thoughtful 
secretaries has said that "if the Association is to grapple 
successfully with the problem of men's lives, there must 
be something tried besides prayer meeting talks, and Bible 
classes, and evangelistic meetings, and physical culture 
and educational classes, and socials. If we would really 
save men, we are obliged to correct and elevate the en- 
vironment of city life." No narrower policy than this 
ought to satisfy a twentieth century Young Men's Chris- 
tian Association. 



1. What were the chief means used by the early Asso- 
ciations in their work? 

2. Why is it right to say that the Association is not 
the church f 

j. What distinguishes the Association from a social 
club? 

4. Why should the Association not engage in rescue 
mission work? 

5. Repeat the definition of the Association field as 
given in the constitution proposed for the twentieth cen- 
tury city. 

6. Why should the work be for individuals rather than 
the mass? 

7. How should the work of an Association in a manu- 
facturing city differ from that in a residential town? 

8. What difference does the character of people living 
in a city make in the work? 



ASSOCIATION PRINCIPLES 39 

Readings: — Association for the Times. The Associa- 
tion and the Community. Principles and Methods of the 
Religious Work. Life of McBumey, Chap. VIII. Jubi- 
lee of Work for Young Men in North America,^. 96-103. 



Lesson IV. Organization 

THE ASSOCIATION BOARDS 

Effective organization of the Association is essential 
to the maintenance of our principles and the working of 
our methods. It has been found to be true that the best 
organized Associations accomplish the best results. 

In this matter of organization, of course, each Asso- 
ciation is supreme. Neither International nor State Com- 
mittee has any right to dictate what that organization shall 
be, nor how it shall be brought about. In the local Asso- 
ciation we get back to the original unit of the movement. 

But while not dictating, these supervising committees 
can and do suggest the form of organization which ex- 
perience has shown to be most helpful. Ordinarily that 
form is as follows: (1) Board of Directors, from which 
the officers come; (2) Board of Trustees; (3) Advisory 
Board, and (4) Committees of the Association. 

1. Board of Directors 

Names. This board bears different names, depending 
on local conditions : board of managers, committee of 
management, etc., but its functions are well denned. 

How elected. The constitution in ordinary use provides 
that its members shall be elected by and from the active 



40 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

members of the Association. This is putting into prac- 
tice the principles of the Evangelical Test. The method 
of their election varies. The better method seems to be 
for the board or its chairman to appoint a nominating 
committee of five, a month or more before the annual 
meeting. Any member desiring to nominate a director 
can hand such nomination to the nominating committee 
within a certain time after its appointment. At the an- 
nual meeting this committee reports the nominations regu- 
larly made to it, and from the men so nominated the new- 
members of the board are elected. Where the interests 
confided to the Association are so great, and where the 
welfare of the organization depends so largely upon the 
character of the men who govern it, it is absolutely neces- 
sary that great care should be taken in the selection of 
these men. 

This method insures the deliberation which is necessary 
in order to secure these results, and also enables the com- 
mittee to see that the nominees meet the constitutional 
requirements as to denominations, etc. 

(1) Kind of men needed as directors. A good many 
considerations enter into the choosing of men for this 
office, but the choice should always be governed by the 
nature of the work required of them. Some men are 
providentially debarred from this office by nature, some 
by training, some by other circumstances. We should 
recognize this fact. And we should have in mind that 
roughly speaking the duties of directors now divide into 
two great departments : financing, directing. Some men 
should be chosen because fitted for the former, some be- 
cause suited to the latter; but all should have certain 
clearly defined qualifications : — 

a. Of pronounced Christian character. This, of 



ASSOCIATION PRINCIPLES 41 

course, is a sine qua non. The director should be 
"moved by a deep religious conviction" — a man of heart. 
He should be broad-minded enough to be able to adjust 
himself comfortably to the changing conditions through 
which we are passing. 

b. Young. This word usually means, in Association 
nomenclature, between eighteen and forty ; and while the 
question of age is not now one of prime importance it 
ought to be borne in mind that we set ourselves up to be 
a Young Men's Christian Association. It will be true 
generally that some older men will be needed on this 
board to give it stability and to add to the enthusiasm of 
youth the judgment of mature years. Dr. Stanley Hall 
once put the question, "Have you not too many men past 
the dead line in places of authority?" We want to be 
able to answer this question in the negative. 

c. Positive. So many men are merely good. "He is 
all faults to me who has no faults at all." I remember 
hearing a Sunday-school teacher say of one of his boys, 
"Oh, if he would only do something wrong!" So many 
men are negative ; be on the lookout for men of positive 
convictions, and who would take the initiative in acting 
upon them. 

d. Of Al standing in the community. I once heard 
the complaint made against one of the directors of an 
Association that finally failed that he did not pay his pew 
rent ; of another that he did not pay his debts. The Asso- 
ciation cannot stand in the community any better than the 
men who govern it. 

e. Not interested in too many things. He should be 
willing and able to give the necessary time to the work 
he is supervising and directing ; this he cannot do if over- 
loaded with other matters. He should be a man who en- 



42 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

ters upon the office, not because he feels compelled to, or 
because he feels honored by the election, but because of 
the opportunity of service which it opens to him. 

He should also be able and willing to give time to 
learn about the work of the Young Men's Christian Asso- 
ciations. This would imply time to attend state conven- 
tions and to read Association literature. 

/. From the various churches. The constitution usu- 
ally makes this wise provision. Sometimes it reads, "Not 
more than five directors may be members of the same 
religious denomination." The wisdom of representing as 
many of the local churches as possible must be apparent 
to all. 

g. Loyal to the Association cause. Many a man who 
is loyal to the church is not loyal to the Association. For 
various reasons he believes that the church ought to do 
the work and that another organization is not needed. 
However pronounced such a man's Christian character 
may be, however well he may stand in the community, he 
is not the man to lead the Association cause. Before un- 
dertaking the office a man must believe thoroughly that 
it is the one organization that can and will successfully 
meet the needs of young men. 

h. Able to work with others. Our work is a united 
effort. We necessarily bring together men of different 
types and of different views, but if there is to be progress 
there must be harmony. Avoid the man who is consti- 
tutionally always on the other side. 



i. What relation does the State Committee bear to 
the local organization? 

2. What three boards are usually found in an Asso- 
ciation? 



ASSOCIATION PRINCIPLES 43 

j. What is the function of each? 

4. Name the characteristics needed in members of the 
Board of Directors, and also of the other boards. 

5. Should all members of the Board of Directors be 
young men? Why? 

6. Why should members of the Board of Directors 
come from various churches? 

Readings: — Twentieth Century City Association. As- 
sociation for the Times. 



Lesson V. Organization (continued) 

THE ASSOCIATION BOARDS 

(2) Duties of directors. Given such men from 
whom to choose a board, the question arises, What are 
their duties? In general this has been well put by a 
prominent Association man in these words : "The duty 
of the board is the same as that of any other organ- 
ization: its business is as important as any other and 
it requires the same intelligent thought and effort. If 
a man cannot meet these duties as he would meet the 
duties of any business organization, he should resign and 
let another take them, just as he would be expected to do 
in any corporation for profit." 

Of course these duties will vary somewhat with the size 
and character of the town, but in general they are well 
known. A few may be mentioned : — 

a. Inspiring and cheering the general secretary. The 
secretaries feel the need of this, but it is often overlooked 
or not thought of by the busy director. He should be in 



44 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

close touch with the secretary not merely to ratify his de- 
cisions, but to bring to the secretary the corrective of his 
large experience. 

b. To gain a full knowledge of the business end of the 
Association. There are Associations where the directors 
do not seem to feel that this is their duty ; they think that 
if the general secretary knows about things that is enough. 
But this is not true. The community looks to the directors 
and any failure in maintaining business principles, no mat- 
ter how brought about, is their failure, not the secretary's. 

c. To be real, not dummy, directors. This means that 
they shall not be content to sit apart from the real Asso- 
ciation to review the work once a month as it is brought to 
them. They should be a part of the living organization : 
teach a Bible class, serve on the social committee, solicit 
funds — do something that brings them in contact with 
Association life. 

d. To attend regularly the meetings of the board. As 
these meetings are held on a fixed night each month the 
directors ought to set that night sacredly aside for this 
purpose. For only by regular attendance can a director 
keep in close enough touch with the work to be useful. 
It is not to be expected that a director can attend all the 
other meetings of the organization, but he should occa- 
sionally take the time to be present. 

(3) Organization of the Board of Directors, a. The 
board should not be so large as to be unwieldly and yet it 
should be large enough to give the various churches repre- 
sentation. Fifteen has been suggested as a good number. 

b. Only a certain proportion of the members should 
go out each year. Usually the members are elected in 
three classes for three years each. This gives continuity 
and stability to the body. 



ASSOCIATION PRINCIPLES 45 

c. Care should be taken that the organization of the 
board be in accordance with the laws of the state. 

d. Officers, (a) Chairman. The board elects its own 
officers, at the first meeting after its election. The most 
important of the officers is the chairman of the board, who 
is by virtue of his office president of the Association. 
Such a man needs in high degree the qualities which have 
been mentioned, together with some others which are not 
essential, though helpful, in the other members of the 
board. The chairman should know how to preside and 
guide the discussions of the members in such a way as to 
economize time and avoid wrangling. He should be able 
to present the work well in public, for he exemplifies the 
Association in the eyes of the community. 

(b) Vice-chairman. For safety, and because the 
chairman must sometimes be absent from meetings, this 
office should be filled. It can easily be made the training 
place for a future chairman. 

(c) Secretary. This office should be filled by a young 
man who is so situated that he of all others can be regular 
in attendance at board meetings. His duties are too well 
known to need discussion: 

(d) Treasurer. Of nearly equal importance with the 
office of chairman is that of treasurer. While he ought not 
as a rule to be burdened with the detail of Association 
finances, and certainly ought not to be expected to raise 
the money, nevertheless he stands before the community 
as the embodiment of the Association's idea of financial 
affairs. He ought therefore to be a man respected in 
financial circles. In many places a well-known officer of a 
bank is selected for this office. This brings to the Asso- 
ciation finances the experience of a trained man, and holds 
out to its supporters the promise of care in money matters. 



46 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

(e) General secretary. He is regarded as an officer of 
the Association, being elected by the board. His office 
and duties are treated later in this course. 



J. What are the duties of the members of the Board 
of Directors? 

2. Why should a director pay as much attention to the 
work of the Association as to any other corporation of 
zvhich he is a director? 

3. What officers should the Board of Directors have? 

4. How are they elected? 

5. What kind of a man should the president be? 

6. The treasurer? 

7. What should be the relation of the general secretary 
to the Board? 

Lesson VI. Organization (continued) 

THE ASSOCIATION BOARDS 

2. Board of Trustees 

The suggested constitution says on this subject: "All 
the real property of the Association shall vest in a Board 
of Trustees of nine members, who shall manage said 
property in the interest of the Association. Funds re- 
ceived by bequest or for endowment shall also be held by 
the Board of Trustees." 

They are elected, not by the members of the Association, 
but by the Board of Directors. Briefly they are to be the 
depository of that part of the Association's property, real 
and personal, which is permanent, such as buildings and 



ASSOCIATION PRINCIPLES 47 

endowment. This property is not devoted to meeting the 
current expenses of the organization, the income only 
being so used. The members of this board do not need 
to be as actively interested in the work as those on the 
other board. Usually some of the substantial citizens of 
the city are asked to fill these positions. They meet but 
seldom, once a year or so, and have a simple organization 
consisting of a president and secretary-treasurer. The 
president of the Association ought to be ex officio a trus- 
tee and so form the connecting link between the two 
bodies. In some states the law does not permit such a 
body as this in addition to the Board of Directors. 

3. The Advisory Board 

This is a late addition to the Association scheme. It is 
formed for the purpose of bringing to the Association the 
benefit of the counsel of leading men in the community, 
clergymen and laymen, who for various reasons would not 
otherwise have an active connection with the movement. 
This board need have no limit as to numbers, and should 
be appointed by the Board of Directors. When a val- 
uable man is found who cannot serve the Association on 
either of the other boards his usefulness may be made 
available by making him a member of this board. 

Membership on any one of these boards ought to be re- 
garded as an honor, and more than an honor, a privilege. 
In seeking candidates the opportunity of service ought to 
be put before them. Time and again have men testified 
that membership in such bodies has been a source of 
spiritual power in their lives, and that there has come to 
them a great reflex blessing, which has been ample com- 
pensation for the worry and care so incident to office. 



48 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

i. What boards other than this Board of Directors 
have been found helpful ? 
2. What kind of men should be on these other boards? 
j. How are these other boards elected? 
4. What is the function of each? 



Lesson VII. Organization (continued) 

COMMITTEES OF THE ASSOCIATION 

4. Standing Committees 

In addition to the boards already mentioned effective 
organization contemplates the distribution of the work of 
the Association among various committees. This is the 
modern method of conducting business, which is generally- 
adopted by business corporations. Especially in an or- 
ganization which is seeking to unite Christian young men 
in their efforts to extend Christ's kingdom among young 
men, the committee system furnishes for the active mem- 
bers a place in which to work. In proportion as the work 
is really done by the committees will the Association be 
successful. 

No attempt is made here to state the qualifications 
needed in members of various committees. As has been 
said the qualifications needed for one committee differ 
from those needed for others. The effort here is to lay 
down general principles which will apply to all com- 
mittees. 

Some have advocated the substitution of clubs for com- 
mittees. This is largely a change in name. One secretary 
who thinks such a change would be good writes, "I am im- 
pressed that more and more the best work and life of the 



ASSOCIATION PRINCIPLES 49 

Association will be carried on through self-governing- 
clubs, cliques or groups that will feel the responsibility of 
pushing particular phases of the Association work within 
the organization." But it could make no real difference 
whether a certain body of men were called the "Religious 
Work Club" or the "Religious Work Committee." Many 
classes in the Association might be profitably organized as 
clubs, e. g., Fencing Club, Bookkeepers' Club, Leaders' 
Club, but the essence of a good committee does not lie in 
what it is called. 

It has often been found helpful to appoint each member 
of the Board of Directors as chairman of some committee, 
though this is not always possible. The board may not 
contain the kind of men needed. But when it can be done 
it enables the chairman of the committee to report in per- 
son at each meeting, and the other members of the board 
are thus apt to get a better working knowledge of the 
Association than they would from written reports read by 
the recording secretary. 

(1) Committees needed. The number and character 
of the committees will vary with the size and character of 
the city, but generally speaking the committees suggested 
by the constitution proposed by the International Com- 
mittee are the essential ones : — 



Executive. 


Boys' Department. 


Finance. 


Women's Committee. 


Religious Work Department. 


Membership. 


Educational Department. 


Auditing. 


Physical Department. 


Visiting. 


Social Work Department. 


Nominating. 



The size of these committees will depend upon the size 
of the Association. The most important of these is the 



50 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

Executive, as it fills the place of the Board of Directors 
in the intervals between the meetings of the board; very 
much, therefore, of the actual work of the Association 
must find its initiative with this committee. On account 
of its importance it usually consists of the chairmen of 
other important committees, as Finance, Religious Work, 
etc. 

The work intrusted to the other committees is ex- 
pressed in the names given to them, and need not be en- 
larged upon here. 

The president of the Association is ex officio a member 
of each of the committees. He cannot expect to attend 
the meeting of each committee, but he is privileged to do 
so. Occasionally he should enjoy this privilege. 

The general secretary is the executive officer of the 
various committees as he is of the Board of Directors, and 
he ought to attend the meetings of the committees when- 
ever possible. 

(2) How to find committeemen. One of the ever- 
recurring problems in Association work is how to find 
good committeemen. Sometimes they are born; more 
often they are developed. A good method has been for 
the president of the association to keep a "committee 
memo, book." Let him write in this book at the begin- 
ning of the year the names of the various committeemen, 
and as the year advances, and these men are working or 
not working, let him make appropriate memoranda against 
the various names. Then when the new season opens he 
will have material from which to select committeemen 
intelligently. 

(3) Adaptation. The first qualification for a commit- 
teeman is adaptation. One secretary states the common 
experience when he writes : "We find it possible to use 



ASSOCIATION PRINCIPLES 51 

a man for sick visitation who would not make a success- 
ful leader of the committee on Sunday meetings. Simi- 
larly we can use a man on the shop meetings committee 
who would not make a successful leader of the Bible 
study club." 

A while ago our church received a fine stereopticon to 
be run by electric light. Some one was needed for this 
duty. There was a man in the church who was not doing 
anything, but who was fond of machinery and electricity. 
He gladly consented to be the guardian and operator of 
the lantern. He was adapted to that work ; he would have 
declined to teach a Bible class. 

(4) General suggestions. Find out what a man is 
fitted for and put him on the committee which offers the 
best opportunity for his special talents. Be on the watch 
for men who promise anything and do nothing. Weed 
them out. The men we need are those who will do more 
than they promise : who are like the servants Paul speaks 
of who are not content with merely doing what is needed, 
but who "adorn the doctrine." Men who compelled to go 
one mile go twain. Cultivate your men. Invite them to 
teas, get them to read literature on the subject. We want 
committeemen who are like the modern advertising agent, 
forever evolving new ideas. 

Do not put a man on too many committees, even when 
he is willing, as some men are. A good chairman can as 
a rule be chairman of only one committee. So much de- 
pends on the leader of the committee that it would be well 
if he could make the work of that committee his only 
committee work, so that it would become a sort of hobby 
with him. 

The chairman should not do it alL Some one once 
asked how many were on a certain committee and the 



52 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

prompt answer was, "10,000 — 1 and four zeroes." We 
have too many "committees of 10,000." And yet it has 
been wisely said, "Far better one layman who can be de- 
pended upon to put a certain thing through, than a large 
committee that will not bring things to pass." 

When a man is found adapted to the work of a certain 
committee keep him on that committee. As in everything 
else a committeeman becomes more and more valuable as 
he becomes better acquainted with his work. 

Committees should be organized, particularly the larger 
ones. Each has to have a chairman and ought to have a 
secretary; some will need also a treasurer. Then the 
committee for the sake of efficiency should be divided into 
subcommittees. In one Association the athletic committee 
is divided into nine subcommittees, including subcommit- 
tees on baseball, bowling, tennis, press, etc. Care should 
be taken, however, not to organize away the efficiency of 
the members by so subdividing the work that no one feels 
any responsibility. 



i. Would it be wise to substitute clubs for com- 
mittees? 

2. What relation might the members of the board 
have to the committees of the Association? 

j. Mention the more important committees. 

4. How is the executive committee usually made up? 

5. What is the relation of the president and general 
secretary to the committees? 

6. How can committeemen be found? 

7. What qualification should be sought first in a com- 
mitteeman? 

Readings: — Standing Committees. Twentieth Century 
City Association. A Practical Project. 



ASSOCIATION PRINCIPLES 53 

Lesson VIII. Membership 

THE ACTIVE MEMBERS 

The membership. This is divided into two classes: 
Active and Associate, the control of the Association being 
in the hands of the former. The Paris Basis provided that 
Christian young men should be associated together, and 
when the question arose as to how we should know who 
were Christian the Portland Resolution answered, "Mem- 
bers of evangelical churches." Nominally this is the 
working force of the Association; these are the active 
members; the group from which our officers and com- 
mittees come. It ought to be the army which the general 
secretary is leading. Unfortunately many of those who 
are eligible to active membership are active in name only. 
This is one of the serious problems in our work, and for 
two reasons. The first one has been well stated by an 
incisive writer referring to the adoption of the Paris 
Basis in 1855, "It is interesting to observe how we in 
America find after fifty years that church membership 
does not make any appreciable difference in the life, char- 
acter or conduct of men who hold formal relation to the 
church." This is too often true. So many who are eligi- 
ble to active membership because of church membership 
do not live the lives which such connection implies ; how 
then can they be of much use in the Association ? 

The other reason is that so many who are really con- 
sistent church members do not take any active part in the 
work of the Association. 

And so it comes about that the membership meeting is 
passing away ; there is no longer the esprit de corps which 
it was fondly hoped would exist among men banded to- 



54 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

gether for such purposes as those we have. The reason 
at the bottom of it is not far to seek ; it could be stated in 
one word : selfishness. Men, even Christian men, come to 
the Association for what they can get, not for what they 
can give. Instead of making it their field of service they 
make it their place of mere enjoyment. This will not 
change much until men realize their responsibility one to 
the other, until they know that they are their brother's 
keeper. 

But we have in our Associations these so-called active 
members; they are church members and they have joined 
our organization. What is to be done with them ? Cer- 
tainly we cannot leave them alone. We depend upon 
them. We must take hold of them. They must be trained 
and taught. 

Much of this teaching and training must be done by the 
general secretary. Some can be done by the president of 
the Association and the chairmen of committees. I be- 
lieve the best method is to get these men into the Asso- 
ciation Bible classes and let them learn there something 
about personal responsibility as they study God's Word. 
Then they will become active indeed. "The word of God 
is alive." 

The Hand Book makes some timely suggestions on this 
subject, speaking of the development of the active 
members : — 

(1) Get hold of them. This means that the secretary 
and others must be on the lookout for likely men. Here 
is a man from your town away at college. He has been 
prominent in the Student Association, and is coming 
home. Before he gets tied up in other things give him 
something to do in the Association and win his confidence. 

Many a young man to-day is grateful to the president 



ASSOCIATION PRINCIPLES 55 

or general secretary of an Association because just as he 
was giving up his college life with all its delightful sur- 
roundings, and coming into what is to him a different 
world, the wise president or secretary has put him at some 
congenial work in the local Association that has anchored 
him in God's service. 

(2) Inform and interest them. Many of these men, 
especially the young men, either know nothing about the 
Association or else have wrong notions about it. They 
need to be told; and they need to have their interest 
aroused. I remember very well how when I came back 
to my town from college, with the college man's good 
opinion of his own literary ability, the president of our 
Association wrote to me telling me about what they were 
doing, and how much they needed some one who would 
take hold of their little paper and edit it. It was the one 
side on which approach to me was easy and he came up 
on that side. I was interested at once. I took hold of the 
editorship, and in order to make the paper go I had to 
know what was going on. So I was led to study the work 
and a very small interest soon grew to be very great. 

Many such cases as this might be cited. Pick out your 
man, inform him and interest him. 

(3) Give him something to do. I have already spoken 
of this, but it needs emphasis. A man does not like to go 
up to the president of the Association and say: "I'm a 
great bass singer; I can help you with your music," or, 
"I am very genial and tactful ; I could make your social 
work a success." Men do not go at it in that way. But 
when the secretary discovers that a man can sing, put 
him to singing; when he finds he is genial and tactful, put 
him at work on the social committee. Give your embryo 
active member some definite work to do. 



56 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

(4) Instruct and encourage. The necessity of instruc- 
tion is well known. And in these days of summer insti- 
tutes much instruction can be given. But the instruction 
referred to here is that which the ordinary member can 
get in the Association itself, from the secretary and others. 
It can be supplied in many ways. Get the member to 
read helpful articles, lend him the Hand Book with pas- 
sages marked. 

And the second part of this suggestion, though often 
overlooked, is as important as the first : Encourage them. 
Aldrich's story, "For Bravery on the Field of Battle," is 
too true. An old worn-out soldier who had become a 
shoemaker was found starved to death in his hovel, wear- 
ing on his breast a medal bearing those words. Nobody 
thought to encourage him for his work as a soldier by 
giving him work to do in his need. If you have a member 
who has proved himself active let him know that his 
efforts are appreciated. Do not wait until he passes away 
and then at some funeral service cry aloud his virtues. 

Remember we are teaching and training these active 
members not only for work in the Association, but if we 
are true to our profession, we are also qualifying them 
for better service in the church. 

New blood is needed. We should be constantly enlist- 
ing new men. The older ones do their work well, but this 
is a Young Men's Christian Association. The older active 
members are the very ones to introduce and train their 
successors. Let it be done more and more. 



i. What two classes of members do we have? 

2. Define each. 

J. Why should we maintain the Evangelical Test? 



ASSOCIATION PRINCIPLES 57 

4. What do you think is the greatest defect in the 
active members of the Association? 

5. What should we do with our active members? 

6. Who should train them? 

7. Why? 

8. How can this be done? 



Lesson IX. The General Secretary 

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GENERAL SECRETARY 

Any one who attempts to offer suggestions concerning 
this office must first apologize to Dr. L. L. Doggett, 
whose monograph, The Secretaryship of the Young Men's 
Christian Association as a Life Work, must always stand 
as a scholarly exposition of this high office. And it must 
seem especially presumptuous for a layman to attempt 
this subject with Dr. Doggett's able paper before him. 
But no treatment of the Principles and Methods of Asso- 
ciation Work could be complete with the general secretary 
left out. This must be the author's excuse for adding to 
the literature of the subject. 

There can be no doubt that the general secretary is the 
controlling force in the Association to-day. The Associa- 
tion is judged by the secretary. He is the point at which 
the Association and outsiders touch. Dr. James M. Buckley 
at the Niagara Conference said, speaking of his investiga- 
tion, "Abundant evidence was furnished that the character 
and work of the Association depends largely upon the 
secretary and the executive committee/' At the same con- 
ference Mr. Ernest H. Abbott said, speaking of this officer, 
"His hope, his faith, his charity, his thoughts, his beliefs, 
his conduct, his manner, his appearance constitute the 



58 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

traits which first are attributed to the Association and then 
are fixed upon it." It would not be possible therefore to 
omit the treatment of this subject from this series of 
studies. 

While much that is said must be along lines already 
treated by Dr. Doggett and others, yet the manner of the 
treatment here will perhaps be different from the course 
pursued by others, for our aim here is to consider the 
general secretary as a part of the working Association. 
And what is said of him and his office must be under- 
stood as applying to all the employed officers of the 
Association. 

One thing should ever be remembered : not every man 
can be a general secretary of the Young Men's Christian 
Association. I should feel like saying to those contem- 
plating the work what a professor in a theological sem- 
inary is reported to have said to his class, "Don't be min- 
isters if you can help it." What he meant was that no 
man should go into the ministry unless he felt that there 
was no other work on earth to which he, with his qualifica- 
tions, could afford to give his life. So it ought to be with 
the secretaryship. As President Eliot, of Harvard, put it : 
"When the revelation of his own peculiar tastes and 
capacities comes to a young man, let him reverently give 
it welcome, thank God, and take courage. Thereafter he 
knows his way to happy, enthusiastic work, and God will- 
ing, to usefulness and success." 

The office of the general secretary has been pretty well 
defined. He is the executive officer of the Association, 
which acts through him more than any other agent. He 
is the administrative officer. He is to the Association what 
a general is to an army, while the president of the Asso- 
ciation might be said to occupy the same position towards 



ASSOCIATION PRINCIPLES 59 

the Association which the President of the United States 
occupies towards the United States army. 

1. General Characteristics 

Let us keep in mind that this is a life work. Men have 
served long enough now to prove this. I never felt this 
to be so true as when one day I attended the celebration 
of the seventieth birthday of a working secretary. And 
let it be said once for all that no man has yet appeared 
too big for the office. At the Niagara Conference Mr. 
Abbott said : "The general secretary has the opportunity 
of being to the modern city what in the early Christian 
ages the metropolitan bishops were, or more exactly, the 
metropolitan head of a great lay order. He ought to have 
a grip upon all the beneficent forces of the city ; he ought 
to guide the social movements of the city; he ought to 
bear to the kingdom of God the same relation that the 
mayor of a city bears to the nation." Is any man too good 
or great for such an office ? 

(1) Men of originality. We are getting now a much 
higher grade of men in the secretaryship than formerly, 
but still there is room. Few of our secretaries are think- 
ers; few are students; many-sided men are scarce. Yet 
originality is the characteristic of great general secre- 
taries. They have been the ones to pioneer the way. They 
have seen the need and have been able to suggest the plans 
to meet the need. One has only to read McBurney's life 
to see how true this was of him. 

(2) Honesty. This is an old-fashioned trait, but it 
cannot be omitted. The general secretary must be honest 
in the first place with the public, in his reports, state- 
ments, etc. I remember a secretary who reported eighty- 
one conversions during the year, only one of whom had 



60 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

united with the church. Investigations showed that 
eighty of the so-called converts were men in the county 
jail, who apparently had requested prayer on the promise 
of getting a Bible. They could not get out to unite with 
the church! 

In the second place the secretary should be honest in his 
personal matters. Let him keep his own money matters 
entirely distinct from those of the Association; let him 
not pay Association bills with his money and then collect 
from the Association. More than one apparently pros- 
perous secretary has been wrecked on this rock. 

(3) Positive. We need men of strong character, so 
that they may impress themselves upon the members. 
President King, of Oberlin, says, "We know but one 
absolutely certain way to make character and that is 
through a surrendering, persistent association with those 
who have such a character as we seek." And this is why 
Mr. Abbott is right when he criticises "the anaemic young 
fellow with the stereotyped smile and conventional hand- 
shake," who is found, he says, in too many of our Asso- 
ciations. 

(4) Ability to lead. It goes without saying that the 
executive officer must have executive ability — leadership 
is of the same class. It seems to be born in men, and is 
difficult of cultivation. 

(5) Optimistic. No one wins battles if he expects 
defeat. Some men go through life always disappointed 
when things turn out right. The man who is helpful is 
the man who is disappointed if things do not turn out 
right. There are many discouragements in the Associa- 
tion work; the general secretary must be so constituted 
that through them all and in spite of them all he can 
remain cheerful. 



ASSOCIATION PRINCIPLES 61 

(6) Belief in his work. This should be strong and 
abiding. If a man is constantly wondering whether this 
is really the greatest work in the world he will do little at 
it. I remember hearing a successful secretary of large 
experience present the general secretaryship as a life work 
on Round Top at Northfield. I am sure that those who 
heard him were convinced that his success was due in part 
at least to his belief in the greatness of his chosen life 
work. 

(7) Men with definite ideas of what the Association is 
trying to do. This may seem a strange characteristic to 
line up with these others, but no man in any field can do 
his work well unless he knows exactly what he is trying 
to do. I fear many of our secretaries have very hazy 
notions of their work. If they should take a sheet of 
paper and try to put down in black and white what they 
propose to accomplish this year they would find it a trou- 
blesome task. And yet it ought to be possible, and it 
can be. 

(8) Spiritually minded. All these other characteris- 
tics ought to exist in men spiritually minded, for it mat- 
ters little what qualifications a secretary has he cannot 
lead in spiritual things unless he himself is spiritual. This 
is a quality which, unlike some others, can be cultivated, 
though some natures are more congenial to it than others. 



1. Give three reasons zvhy the Association is always 
judged by its general secretary. 

2. Why could not every man be a general secretary? 

3. Why should a man entering the general secretary- 
ship, contemplate it as a life work? 

4. What is meant by saying that a general secretary 
should be a man of originality? 



62 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

5. Name three other characteristics which you think 
most important. 

6. Write down one illustration under each of these 
three showing that you possess these characteristics. 



Lesson X. The General Secretary (continued) 

PERSONAL LIFE OF THE GENERAL SECRETARY 

2. Duties 

I wish under this head to point out some duties other 
than those which pertain to the office. The regular duties 
of the general secretary hardly come within the scope of 
these studies ; besides, they are well known. The Twen- 
tieth Century Constitution suggested by the International 
Committee, says that "he shall have general oversight, 
under the Board of Directors, of all the work of the 
Association ; he shall labor to enlist the members in active 
Christian work, and discharge such other duties as the 
board may require." The duties of which I wish to speak 
are rather those which he owes to himself as he seeks to 
fit himself for his life work. 

(1) To study the Bible. This does not refer to the 
study he does for teaching, but to study for personal 
growth. The two things are quite different. No man has 
remained strong in the Christian life who has not been 
nourished by the Word of God. There is no substitute for 
it, and it is idle to seek it in devotional books, however 
good they may be. It requires regularity, just as the 
nourishing of the body requires regularity in partaking of 
food. It takes time, but so does sleep, and one is as neces- 
sary as the other. 



ASSOCIATION PRINCIPLES 63 

(2) To pray. In Bible study God talks with us; 
prayer is the other part of the communion, we talk with 
God. No secretary can do his work unless he is a man 
of prayer. Constant association with Jesus Christ is the 
way of power. The secretary must be like Him whatever 
else he is. Phillips Brooks was a great admirer of 
Abraham Lincoln ; he went to see him, he read his words 
and tried in every way to enter into Lincoln's inner being, 
till at last the great president through this association 
with Brooks actually moulded Brooks' life; so that 
Bishop Brooks' biographer could say that Brooks in de- 
scribing Lincoln was unconsciously describing himself. 
So the secretary by his fellowship with Jesus will become 
like Him, and will be able to manifest His glory to the 
men about him. 

(3) To read. One of the speakers at the Niagara 
Conference said, "Most Association secretaries are intel- 
lectually ill-equipped for their work." Bible study and 
prayer will do much for a man, but God has given us 
minds, and in acquiring knowledge He expects us to use 
the faculties He has given us. 

In preparing these studies I wrote to ten ordinary gen- 
eral secretaries, asking each to name two books which he 
had read during the preceding twelve months that had 
helped him in his work as a secretary. It was interesting 
to learn that the books read were the ordinary devotional 
books which might have been read profitably by a man or 
woman engaged in any form of Christian work, or en- 
gaged in no distinctively Christian work. Not one of 
them was distinctly helpful to a secretary of a Young 
Men's Christian Association. Then I sent to ten leading 
secretaries asking the same questions. They answered 
with a lot of books, such as Adolescence, Life of Quintin 



64 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

Hogg, A Young Alan's Questions, etc., books that made 
them not only better Christians but better secretaries. 

If the secretary is going to keep up with the times he 
must read. "In this disregard of the intellectual life lies 
one reason for the failure of the Associations to win the 
cooperation of college-bred men." 

(4) To cultivate manners. Some one has said, "Next 
to personality I would place manners and taste as a cause 
affecting efficiency" in a generaj. secretary. I remember 
a conversation I once had with McBurney. A well-known 
secretary from abroad had just been to visit him and he 
was disgusted with the man's slovenly appearance. The 
Association is judged by the appearance and manner and 
taste of the secretary. The building will not be any more 
attractive as to cleanliness than the secretary is himself. 

(5) To visit. I once heard a well-known Sunday- 
school man give a talk on "Old-fogy Superintendents." 
His first sign of old-fogyism was that "he was always in 
his place." This showed that he was behind the times, 
the speaker said, because he should sometimes be away, 
visiting other schools for suggestions. So with the secre- 
tary, he ought to visit other Associations, conferences, 
conventions, and similar gatherings where he can rub up 
against other men, learn new things and correct his own 
faults. 

(6) To take vacations. The well-known physical di- 
rector, Robert J. Roberts, recently said of the kind of 
vacations men should take, — 

" A little daily one, 
A little longer weekly one, 
A still longer monthly one, 
And a month or so once a year." 

This is good advice. A secretary ought certainly to 



ASSOCIATION PRINCIPLES 65 

have some time to himself each day, as men in other lines 
of work do; he cannot work from nine in the morning 
until ten or eleven o'clock at night and do good work. 
Every secretary ought to have one day in seven for rest ; 
it cannot be Sunday, it must be some day. I know one 
Association where the board of directors passed a resolu- 
tion that the secretary should be away from the building 
twenty-four consecutive hours each week. 

The secretary has home duties, and God never intended 
Christian work to interfere with the home. "A secretary 
who has a wife is more than a secretary, he is a husband ; 
the secretary who has children is more than a secretary, 
he is a father." No man can be all that he ought to be 
without the home, and no secretary with a home can afford 
to miss its influence upon him and his Association work. 

3. Things to Avoid 

(1) Politics. Every secretary should be a good citi- 
zen, and therefore he cannot entirely avoid politics. But 
he can avoid party politics. All parties will be represented 
in the Association and he wants to be on good terms with 
all. Active participation in the campaign for any party 
would injure his influence with members of other parties. 
But he should exercise the franchise. All respect a man 
who does his duty as a voter. Of course this implies that 
he cannot run for office. Oftentimes though a secretary 
can accept a semi-political office. One of our best-known 
secretaries was appointed a jury commissioner of his city. 
This enabled him to render a real service to the men of his 
city by seeing to it that only good men were put on the 
lists from which the juries were drawn. 

(2) Lodges. The reason for this suggestion is that 



66 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

there are usually too many lodges to join them all, and 
joining any one of them may interfere with the secretary's 
usefulness towards members of the others. Besides there 
is on the part of some an honest prejudice against secret 
societies which might as well be avoided. 

(3) Church work. This may seem strange at first, 
but with the work a secretary has in the x\ssociation he 
cannot give very much time and strength to his church. 
Far better that he should devote himself to training men 
for church work than that he should give himself to the 
work of any one church. Of course he should be con- 
nected with some church in the community and should 
support it loyally, attending its services and in every way 
helping it. But he cannot in justice to his other work, 
which is for the church, take important offices in church 
or Sunday-school. 

(4) Doing too much himself. It is often so much 
easier to do a thing yourself than to bother to get some 
one else to do it. But not in this way can a general secre- 
tary train young men in Christian work. 

(5) Moving too often. There is not so much ten- 
dency now as formerly for secretaries to move on, but 
still the work suffers from too frequent change. Of 
course there are misfits and men must change, but chang- 
ing secretaries causes a considerable loss to an Association 
every time it occurs. 

(6) Staying too long in one place. This is the other 
side of the former danger. It is not often found, but 
there can be such a thing as a man outgrowing his use- 
fulness — going stale, as the athletes say. Every secretary 
ought to welcome the friend who will tell him the truth 
about this, and he ought to be glad to make way for his 
successor in order that the work may go forward. 



ASSOCIATION PRINCIPLES 67 

There is a tendency on the part of men who have been 
long in one place to be satisfied with past achievements. 
Dr. Doggett has said : "There are a good many leaders 
in Association work who are content with what they have 
already done, who will wake up in a few years to find the 
procession has moved on, and in the language of the 
street, 'they are not in it/ and they will wonder why. 
The answer is they have failed to grow." 

But after all, these characteristics and duties and things 
to avoid can only be referred to in the most general way. 
Above all, the secretary must be an inspirer of the men 
about him. Most secretaries unfortunately are "slaves of 
routine." They are cumbered with much serving. They 
do not take time for the big things of their office. "Truth 
is contagious through personality." 



i. What sort of duties have been considered in this 
lesson ? 

2. What does the Twentieth Century Constitution sug- 
gest as the general secretary's duties? 

j. What kind of Bible study should he do? 

4. What should be the nature of his reading? 

5. Why should he take vacations? 

6. Mention the things he should avoid. 

7. Why should a secretary avoid politics? 

Readings: — The General Secretary. The Board and the 
Secretary. The Association Secretaryship. The Secre- 
taryship of the Young Men's Christian Association as a 
Life Work. Memorial of George A. Hall. Memorial of 
Horace William Rose. Life of Robert McBurney. Bible 
Study for Personal Spiritual Growth. 



68 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 



Bibliography for Course on Association Principles 



(These books may be secured through the International Committee, 
3 West Twenty -ninth Street, New York.) 



Fifty Years of Federation. R. C. Morse $ .65 

Life of Robert R. McBurney. L. L. Doggett 2.00 

History of the Young Men's Christian Association. L. L. 

Doggett 1.00 

The Association and the Churches. R. J. McBryde 03 

Twentieth Century City Association. C. S. Ward 05 

Association for the Times. F. S. Goodman 05 

Why for Young Men Exclusively. T. G. Darling 02 

Jubilee of Work for Young Men in North America (Boston 

Convention Report) 1.00 

The Association and the Community. J. L. Houghteling 02 

Principles and Methods of Religious Work 25 

Standing Committees of the Association (Hand Book) 05 

A Practical Project 10 

The General Secretary. Edwin F. See 02 

The Board and the Secretary. J. F. Robinson 02 

The Association Secretaryship. D. A. Budge — G. K. Shurt- 

leff 15 

The Secretaryship of the Young Men's Christian Associ- 
ation as a Life Work. L. L. Doggett 10 

Memorial of George Alonzo Hall. George A. Warburton. . .83 

Memorial of Horace William Rose. Harry Wade Hicks 65 

Bible Study for Personal Spiritual Growth. John R. Mott. . .05 



ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT 



J. W. Hansel 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Lesson I. Principles and Ethics of Sound Business 

Management 71 

Lesson II. Principles and Ethics of Sound Business 

Management (continued) 73 

Lesson III. Principles and Ethics of Sound Business 

Management (concluded) 74 

Lesson IV. The General Secretary's Relationships and 

Responsibilities 75 

Lesson V. The Budget 76 

Lesson VI. Current Financial Transactions 77 

Lesson VII. Financial Canvass 78 

Lesson VIII. Membership 79 

Lesson IX. Correspondence 80 

Lesson X. Business Forms and Procedures 81 

Lesson XI. Advertising and Printed Matter 82 

Lesson XII. Advertising and Printed Matter (continued). 83 

Lesson XIII. Accounting and Auditing 84 

Lesson XIV. Accounting and Auditing (continued) 85 

Lesson XV. Association Records and Statistics 86 

Lesson XVI. Property 87 

Lesson XVII. The Association Building 88 

Lesson XVIII. Business Meetings and Functions 88 

Lesson XIX. Business Law 89 

Lesson XX. Business Law (continued) 90 

Bibliography 91 



TWENTY LESSONS ON ASSOCIATION 
BUSINESS MANAGEMENT 



In preparing this course of study the aim has been to 
indicate subjects and suggest lines of investigation that 
will assist the student in putting himself into possession of 
principles and methods for the sound business manage- 
ment of a Young Men's Christian Association. Limited 
space has made impossible more than the briefest outline 
for each lesson, and a few suggestions for the guidance 
of the instructor and the student. It is suggested that the 
instructor arrange for lectures by specialists in connection 
with the lessons on advertising, accounting, and business 
law. The value of the courses will depend quite largely 
upon the care given by the instructor to the assignment in 
advance of readings, problems, investigations, preparation 
of articles on assigned topics, etc. The instructor is re- 
quested to carefully preserve the markings on recitations, 
assigned work and examinations, and submit the same to 
the examiner for this course. 



Lesson I. Principles and Ethics of Sound Business Management 

1. Sound business management is an art based upon a 
science. Fixed principles and laws underlie and 
direct the capacity for the art. 

"What we call learning a business really implies learn- 
ing the science involved in it." — Spencer. 



72 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

2. The basic factors of the science : 

(1) The manager — general secretary or department 

director. 

(2) His associates — assistants, clerks, etc. 

(3) The customers or clientele — members and con- 

tributors. 

(4) The business — the Association activities. 

(5) The administration of the business. 

(6) Mediums of exchange. 

These factors will be considered in the following les- 
sons. 

ASSIGNED WORK 

This assigned work is intended to cover Lessons I, II 
and III. 

Readings: — Extracts from Letters to Agents, Gage E. 
Tarbell. Top or Bottom, Which? Archer Brown. 
Energy, Ernest E. Jewett. Autobiography of Benjamin 
Franklin, Weld, pages 129 to 144 ; or Bigelow, pages 212 to 
230. The General Secretary as an Administrator, G. K. 
Shurtleff. How to do Business, pages 217 to 253, Seymour 
Eaton. Funds and Their Uses, F. A. Cleveland. 

Exercises: Write definitions of art and science. Write 
a paragraph each day for a month on one or more of the 
faculties and qualities mentioned under "The manager" 
(Lesson II, 3). The student should impress these words 
so deeply upon his memory that they may be realized in 
his personality. 

Note. — The instructor should make a study of psychology especially as 
it relates to the subject of "suggestion," that he may show the student its 
use in the development of the desired faculties and qualities. 



ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT 73 

Lesson II. Principles and Ethics of Sound Business Management 
(Continued) 

3. The manager, the secretary, the director, the assistant : 

(1) His personal traits and characteristics. The 
faculties and qualities necessary to success as 
a business manager. 

a. Physical : Health, vigor, activity. 

b. Mental: Thoughtfulness, courage, system, 

tact, industry, energy, persistence, concen- 
tration, dispatch, decision, courtesy, cheer- 
fulness, buoyancy, generosity. 

c. Moral : Integrity, sincerity, faith or confi- 

dence, devotion, truthfulness, honesty, 
justice, moderation, self-mastery. 

By rigid self-discipline these faculties and qualities may 
be developed and will result in: (a) Magnetic per- 
sonality, or : (b) Power to inspire confidence, (c) Power 
to influence others, (d) Power to direct and control 
others, (e) Managerial success. 

Are you willing to pay the price? Managerial success 
does not depend so much upon native characteristics as 
upon persistent industry and the strict observance of cer- 
tain fixed principles. 

Nine-tenths of the most useful labor in any calling is 
drudgery — work which kindles no enthusiasm and elicits 
no praise — but without which signal success is impossi- 
ble. "No man," says the painter Innes, "can do anything 
in art unless he has intuitions, but between whiles he 
must work hard collecting the materials out of which 
intuitions are made." 



74 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

It is a common mistake to suppose that intellectual 
cleverness is the main qualification for success in any 
career. Far more important than brilliant abilities is a 
talent for work — for hard, persistent, unremitting toil. 

Note. — See Assigned Work under Lesson I. 



Lesson III. Principles and Ethics of Sound Business Management 
(Continued) 

3. The general secretary (continued). 

(2) His knowledge of men : 

a. Study men. 

b. Quick perception. Intuition. Cultivate 

these faculties that you may readily esti- 
mate the characteristics and dispositions 
of men with whom you deal. 

c. Study, as does the expert advertiser, the 

art of attracting and holding attention, 
arousing interest and creating desire. 

(3) His knowledge of the business : 

Make an analytical study of Association work. 

Become thoroughly familiar with every detail of Asso- 
ciation business, consider it from every view-point, throw 
every possible light upon it from every possible angle. 
Lessons IV to X of the course are designed to assist the 
students in the study of this subject. 

(4) His knowledge of methods : 

a. A study of best methods. Make a thorough 
study of Association history, philosophy 
and activities. In this connection see the 



ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT 75 

courses by Dr. Daggett and I. E. Brown 
in this series. 
b. Adaptation of principles, not slavish imita- 
tion. Cultivate the ability to recognize 
the "psychological moment." 
(5) His knowledge of mediums of exchange. It is 
intended that this subject shall be treated only in a very 
general and elementary manner. Assigned readings on the 
subject of Money and Funds will be of value. 

Note. — See Assigned Work under Lesson I. 

Lesson IV. The General Secretary's Relationships and 
Responsibilities 

1. His personal business transactions. 

2. Leadership in all departments of business manage- 

ment. 

3. Supervision of details: 

(1) Daily or weekly reports from all departments 

for secretary's desk. 

(2) Suggested forms for such reports. 

4. Specified time to be devoted to various items of busi- 

ness management : 

( 1 ) Review of work. 

(2) Inspection of building and office management. 

(3) Preparation for board and committee meetings 

and Association functions. 

(4) Finances and financial solicitation. 

(5) Engagements, correspondence, etc. 

(6) Office hours. 

a. For conference with employees. 

b. For conference with members. 



76 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

ASSIGNED WORK 

Readings: — Association Hand Book, pages 127 to 150. 
Exercises: Prepare forms for paragraphs 3 and 4 
above. 

Lesson V. The Budget 

1. The Basis : 

(1) Settled resources. 

(2) Settled expenditures. 

(3) Estimated additional resources. 

(4) Estimated additional expenditures. 

(5) Investigation of budgets of other Associations 

in similar circumstances : 

a. In several cities of 25,000 to 50,000 popula- 

tion. 

b. In several cities of 50,000 to 100,000 popu- 

lation. 

2. Estimates — the result of careful study and investiga- 

tion. 

3. Due recognition given to the needs of each depart- 

ment. The distribution of the budget on the per- 
centage basis. 

4. Recognition of supervisory agencies. 

5. Recognition of training agencies. 

6. Budget strictly adhered to. Appropriations not ex- 

ceeded except by action of the board or the execu- 
tive committee. 

7. Distribution of responsibility for raising the budget 

between the finance committee and the committees 
of the various departments. 



ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT 77 

ASSIGNED WORK 

Readings: — Association Hand Book, pages 198, 199. 
Exercises: Prepare budgets for various amounts. 

Lesson VI. Current Financial Transactions 

1. Source of income : 

(1) Fixed income. Rent, interest on investments, 

etc. 

(2) Lectures, entertainments, exhibitions, mass 

meetings, etc. 
Suggestion: It is unsafe to depend upon any 
of these for revenue. 

(3) Membership fees. 

(4) Subscriptions. 

(5) Special fees. 

a. Ix>cker. 

b. Educational class. 

c. Miscellaneous. 

(6) Business enterprises. 

a. Restaurants. 

b. Dormitories. 

2. Expenditures : 

(1) Fixed operating expenses. 

a. Various departments. 

b. Office. 

(2) Contributions — supervisory and training agen- 

cies. 

3. Miscellaneous : 

(1) Negotiation of notes. 



78 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

(2) The financial statement to members and con- 
tributors. 

ASSIGNED WORK 

Exercises: Investigate and report in detail the income 
and expenditures of selected Associations. 



Lesson VII. Financial Canvass 

1. Personal solicitation : 

(1) Main canvass at beginning of fiscal year. 

(2) Systematically followed up day by day. 

(3) Supplemental mail canvass to cover entire field. 

(4) Signature to legally drawn pledge. 

(5) Definite time for payment of dues. 

(6) Development of individual givers by steady in- 

crease in amount of gifts. 

2. Mail solicitation : 

(1) The original letter. Suggestion: Brief, per- 

sonal, clear; two or three principal features 
of work emphasized; definite requests, 
etc. 

(2) Second letter or reminder. Suggestion: 

Courteous, very brief, a new point empha- 
sized. 

(3) Stamped envelope for reply. 

(4) Peek-a-boo envelopes may be used for state- 

ments but not for letters. 

3. Complete card lists. 

(1) Present contributors. 

(2) Possible contributors. 



ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT 79 

ASSIGNED WORK 

Readings: — Association Hand Book, pages 199 to 206. 

Exercises: Write a financial letter presenting the As- 
sociation and its work requesting financial support — to an 
interested contributor seeking increase; to an indifferent 
person at the head of a concern employing a large number 
of young men ; to a lady of large means, etc. The in- 
structor should criticise these letters before the class. 

Lesson VIII. Membership 

1. Made as productive as possible. 

2. Made the chief source of revenue where possible. 

3. Complete and systematic canvass throughout the year. 

4. Kinds of membership : 

(1) Limited, full, etc. 

(2) One fee — $5, $10 or $15 covering all privileges. 

( 3 ) One fee — $2 or $5 with special fees for various 

privileges. 

(4) Life and sustaining memberships very objec- 

tionable. 

(5) Boys. 

(6) Students. 

5. Annual dues : 

(1) Notice in advance of time for the payment of 

annual dues. 

(2) Dues to' cover fifteen months if paid, or ar- 

ranged for in advance. 

(3) Give all that is advertised and make dues ade- 

quate. 

(4) Contributors not members. 



80 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

(5) Use the term "annual dues" rather than "ex- 
pire" and "renewal." 

6. Complete card lists: 

(1) Alphabetical. 

(2) Monthly. 

ASSIGNED WORK 

Readings: — Association Hand Book, pages 105 to 108. 

Exercises: Write a letter presenting advantages of 
membership in the Association. Prepare form of notice 
for payment of annual dues. Collect membership blanks 
of leading Associations. 

Lesson IX. Correspondence 

"Every letter that goes out of a business house is an 
ad., good or bad. Letters should be answered the day re- 
ceived. Every question in the letter should be answered in 
reply. Every point raised should be treated with care. 
Use good typewriter, good paper. Sloppy letters have a 
bad effect. There is an art in letter writing. Do not be 
brusque or jerky. A man will read as long as you tell him 
something that he wants to know." — Charles Austin 
Bates. 

1. Business letters : 

(1) Form: Strong, clear, courteous, brief. 

(2) Acknowledgments. All letters except such as 

are discourteous or trivial deserve prompt 
acknowledgment. 

2. Personal letters. Letters of condolence, congratula- 

tion, friendship, etc., should usually be pen letters. 



ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT 81 

3. Public letters : Clear, dignified, free from personali- 

ties. 

4. Invitations, formal and informal. 

5. Systems of filing. 

ASSIGNED WORK 

Readings: — How to do Business, pages 233 to 242, 
Seymour Eaton. The Country Banker, chap. 25, page 182. 
Hill's Manual. Association Hand Book, sample forms 
in Appendix. 

Exercises: Prepare one or more of the above forms. 
Investigate and report on systems of filing. 



Lesson X. Business Forms and Procedure 

1. Banking: Checks, drafts, notes, deposits, endorse- 

ments, overdrafts, accommodations, etc. 

2. Contracts, deeds, leases, etc. 

3. Association forms: 

(1) Subscription pledges. 

(2) Membership applications, tickets, etc. 

(3) Receipts, acknowledgments, etc. 

(4) Miscellaneous. 

ASSIGNED WORK 

Readings: — How to do Business, pages 13 to 23 ; 51 to 
65 ; 89, etc. Funds and Their Uses, chap. 4. Hill's Man- 
ual. Association Hand Book, sample forms in Ap- 
pendix. 

Exercises: Prepare one or more of the above forms. 
Collect forms used by leading Associations; analyze and 
criticise. 



82 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

Lesson XI. Advertising and Printed Matter 

1. Importance. As in business, so in Association work, 

competition is strong and powerful. The Associa- 
tion work should be kept before the public in a most 
attractive and convincing form. The importance 
and magnitude of the work demands a compre- 
hensive and judicious plan of publicity. It is of the 
utmost importance that the general secretary have a 
practical knowledge of correct principles of adver- 
tising. 

2. Methods: 

(1) Straightforward, frank and strictly truthful. 

(2) Simple, vigorous, pleasing. 

(3) Clear, forceful, grammatical. 

(4) Present salient points. 

(5) Seek not only to secure attention, but to arouse 

interest and create a desire. 

(6) Do a strong work. No one can profitably ad- 

vertise an unworthy business. 

(7) Study the circumstances and dispositions of 

those to whom the appeal is made. This is 
especially important in advertising religious 
meetings, Bible classes, etc. 

3. Poor advertising : 

(1) Address lacking. 

(2) The ridiculous. "Loud clothes will attract at- 

tention, but are not a part of the equipment 
of a good salesman." 

(3) Catch phrases. 

(4) Flowery, "bouquet style." 

(5) A dollar for fifty cents. 



ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT 83 

(6) Weak humor. 

(7) Sensational. 

(8) Misrepresentation. 

4. Mediums : 

(1) Daily press. 

a. Cards. 

b. News, e. g., Association functions, con- 

ventions, etc. 

c. Articles, e. g., Association's relation to the 
public betterment, good citizenship, etc. 

(2) Cards and posters. 

(3) Cards in street cars. 

(4) Exhibitions and entertainments. 

5. Lecture by an advertising expert. 

ASSIGNED WORK 

Readings: — The Theory of Advertising, Prof. Walter 
Dill Scott. 

Exercises: Prepare sample advertisements, cards, arti- 
cles for the press, posters, etc. 



Lesson XII. Advertising and Printed Matter 
(Continued) 

"Printed matter is the fuel which feeds the fire of pub- 
licity, and poor fuel is as fatal to business publicity as 
poor coal is to economical steam production." 

1. The bulletin: 

(1) A clear setting forth of Association activities. 

(2) Local Association news. 

(3) General Association news of local interest. 



84 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

2. Prospectus : 

(1) Contents. Make a strong, telling point early in 

the book. 

(2) Form, paper, type, etc. 

(3) Utility of pictures. Be sure that the pictures 

illustrate what is said. 

3. Reports : 

(1) Value. 

(2) Contents. 

(3) Monthly, quarterly or annual. 

4. Letter-heads : 

(1) Seek individuality. 

(2) Value of retaining good form after adopted. 

5. Estimates. 

6. Preparation, proof-reading, etc. 

ASSIGNED WORK 

Readings: — Association Hand Book, pages 225 to 228. 

Exercises: — Collect samples of one or more of the 
above items from different Associations. Submit certain 
corrected proof, showing acquaintance with the usual 
signs for designating corrections. 

Lesson XIII. Accounting and Auditing 

1. Bookkeeping : 

(1) Simple, accurate, clear. 

(2) Voucher system. 

(3) The importance of the audit. 

(4) Books and forms commonly used by Associa- 

tions. 

(5) Treasurer's report. 



ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT 85 

2. Principles of debits and credits. 

3. The theory of double entry bookkeeping. 

4. Balance sheet and trial balance : 

(1) How do they differ? 

(2) The problems implied in each. 

ASSIGNED WORK 

Readings: — The Theory of Accounts, Tipson. (1) 
Pages 50, 64-66, 69, 86. (2) Pages 5, 55, 56, 57, 75, 87, 
102, 104. (3) Pages 6, 22, 42, 72, 81, 104, 116. Ac- 
counting, Keister, or Sadler and Rowe. Encyclopedia of 
Lam and Forms, pages 2 to 14, Spalding. Association 
Hand Book. 

Exercises: Investigate methods and forms of several 
Associations. Prepare certain forms assigned by the in- 
structor. Assign problems in bookkeeping for students to 
work out and illustrate. 



Lesson XIV. Accounting and Auditing 
(Continued) 

1. Define the following accounts : 

(1) Capital or revenue. 

(2) Cash. 

(3) Accounts receivable and accounts payable. 

(4) Notes receivable and notes payable. 

(5) Profit and loss. 

(6) Suspense. 

2. Define the function of the following : 

(1) Day book. 

(2) Journal. 



86 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

(3) Cash book. 

(4) Ledger. 

(5) Bill book. 

(6) Budget and distribution of receipts and ex- 

penditures. 

(7) Check register. 

(8) Voucher record. 

3. The columnar system of books of original entry : 

(1) Explain and illustrate. 

(2) The advantages of this system. 

ASSIGNED WORK 

Readings: — The Theory of Accounts, Tipson. (1) 
Pages 8, 11, 12, 15, 27, 104, etc. (2) Pages 19, 21, 25, 39, 
48, 94, 96, 109, etc. (3) Pages 9, 20, 48, 84, 85, 122, etc. 

Exercises: Assigned problems in bookkeeping. 

Note. — Lessons XIII and XIV should be lectures by an expert account- 
ant and should be freely illustrated. 



Lesson XV. Association Records and Statistics 



1. 

2. 
3. 


Value. 
Method. 
Items : 




(1) Membership. 

(2) Meetings. 

(3) Classes. 

(4) Personal work. 

(5) Attendance at rooms. 

(6) Records of board meetings 



4. Statistical record book. 



ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT 87 

5. Recording and filing of valuable documents, deeds, 
leases, vouchers, contracts, insurance policies, etc. 
Card index. 

ASSIGNED WORK 

Readings: — Association Hand Book, pages 219, 220. 
See also sample record forms in thie Appendix. 

Exercises: Investigate forms and methods used by 
other Associations. 



Lesson XVI. Property 

1. Custody : 

(1) Board of directors. 

(2) Trustees. 

2. Management : 

(1) Keep building accounts distinct from current 

business. 

(2) Taxes, insurance, etc. 

(3) Leases, rentals, etc. 

(4) Care of building: 

a. Repairs. 

b. Janitor service. 

c. Compliance with the city building and fire 

ordinances. 

3. Incorporation. 

4. Endowment and special funds. 

( 1 ) Investment of funds : 

a. Reliable securities. 

b. Secure legal and other expert advice. 



88 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

ASSIGNED WORK 

Readings: — Association Hand Book, pages 210 to 218, 
etc. Encyclopedia of Law and Forms, page 417, etc., 
Spalding. 

Lesson XVII. The Association Building 

1. General arrangement. Plans of several modern 

buildings should be submitted to the class and im- 
portant features discussed. 

2. The architect's plans. 

3. Securing bids. 

4. Contracts for construction. 

5. Superintendence of construction. 

6. Compliance with city ordinances. 

ASSIGNED WORK 

Readings: — Association Hand Book, pages 162 to 173 ; 
176 to 180, etc. Encyclopedia of Law and Forms, page 
226, etc., Spalding. 

Exercises: Submit an outline of floor plans for an 
Association building of specified dimensions. 

Lesson XVIII. Business Meetings and Functions 

1. Members : 

(1) Monthly or quarterly. 

(2) Anniversary. 

(3) Educational department public opening and 
commencement exercises. 

2. Board of directors. 



ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT 89 

3. Parlor conferences, banquets, etc. 

4. Conventions. 

ASSIGNED WORK 

Readings: — Association Hand Book, pages 221 to 225. 

Exercises: Present a suggested program or order of 
business for these meetings and prepare resolutions on 
various items of business to be acted upon. 



Lesson XIX. Business Law 

1. Law in general: 

(1) Technical or positive. 

(2) International and municipal law distinguished. 

(3) Moral basis of positive law. 

(4) Written and unwritten law. 

(5) Legal rights, etc. 

2. The laws peculiar to checks and certificates of de- 

posit: 

(1) Nature of deposit in bank. 

(2) Check, definition and nature. 

(3) Acceptance or certification. 

(4) Negotiability. 

(5) Outlawed checks. 

(6) Overdrafts. 

3. Obligations of the Association to its members : 

(1) Responsibility for valuables. 

(2) Fire escapes, exits, etc. 

(3) Obligations of clubs, societies, innkeepers, etc. 



90 STUDIES IN ASSOCIATION WORK 

ASSIGNED WORK 

Readings: — Manual of Commercial Law, pages 1 to 18, 
211 to 219, Spencer; Encyclopcedia of Law and Forms, 
pages 133 to 135, Spalding. 

Lesson XX. Business Law (Continued) 

1. Contracts : 

(1) Definition, nature and classification. 

(2) The agreement — offer and acceptance. 

(3) Interpretation of contracts. 

(4) Conveyance of real property. 

(5) Mortgages, leases, etc. 

2. Corporations : 

(1) Definition and nature. 

(2) How formed. 
( 3 ) Management : 

a. Meetings. 

b. Duties and powers of officers. 

c. Quorum. 

ASSIGNED WORK 

Readings: — Manual of Commercial Law, pages 24 to 
31; 521 to 548; 308 to 315; 327 to 334, Spencer. 

Note. — It is suggested that if possible a lawyer be secured to teach Les- 
sons XIX and XX or to give a practical talk on business law in connection 
with the assigned readings. 



ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT 91 



Bibliography for Course on Business Management 

[These books may be secured through the International Committee, 
3 West 29th Street, New York.] 

* Young Men's Christian Association Hand Book $1.00 

*How to do Business, Seymour-Eaton 1.00 

*The Theory of Advertising, Walter Dill Scott 2.00 

*Theory of Accounts, Frederick S. Tipson 3.00 

*Manual of Commercial Law, Spencer 2.00 

The Country Banker, George Rae 1.35 

Funds and Their Uses, Cleveland 1.25 

Accounting and Auditing, Keister 4.00 

Accounting, Sadler and Rowe 70 

Encyclopaedia of Law and Forms, Spalding 3.00 

Report of American Bankers' Association 1.50 

Hill's Manual, Cloth 3.50 

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin 70 

*Top or Bottom, Which? Archer Brown 10 

*Extracts from Letters to Agents, Gage E. Tarbell 10 

*The General Secretary as an Administrator, Glen K. Shurt- 

leff 10 

*Energy, Ernest E. Jewett 10 

*Students pursuing this course should have access to at least these books. 



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